Hinata firmly pressed her palm against Neji's back, took a deep breath and channeled her chakra into Neji's body, thinking she had the victory in the bag.
With a 'bang,' a puff of white smoke enveloped Neji, and he transformed into a log.
"Substitution Jutsu!" Naruto said coldly, "As expected, it's not that simple."
Neji appeared out of nowhere, flashing behind Hinata. Naruto quickly pulled Hinata away, taking her out of Neji's attack range.
After rescuing Hinata, Naruto confronted Neji. The palm Neji had intended to strike at Hinata landed on Naruto instead.
Naruto felt the flow of chakra in his body being obstructed. He believed his meridians were damaged.
Naruto bared his fangs, his eyes taking on a feral glint as he summoned a large amount of the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra to replenish his own.
Neji was truly shocked. Naruto was the first person who could still stand firm after taking a blow from his Gentle Fist.
Not only did Naruto steady himself, but he also retaliated with a punch. One punch for one palm, Naruto thought it was a fair trade.
"Who exactly is Naruto?" Neji wondered for the first time.
"Hinata! Let's go on! This time, we have to see it through to the end." Naruto's goal wasn't to defeat Neji; his main intention was to help Hinata grow.
Only when Hinata grew stronger could she become the strongest wife of the Hokage.
"Multiple Kage Clone Jutsu!" Naruto used the same tactic again. First, he created a large number of shadow clones. Under the cover of the white smoke from the ninjutsu, all the shadow clones then used the Transformation Jutsu.
"Here he goes again!" Neji didn't dare to underestimate Naruto this time. After their first encounter, he knew Naruto's strength was definitely on par with Sasuke's.
Neji thought to himself: No wonder Sasuke said Naruto was stronger than him. It seems Sasuke wasn't just being modest...
All of Naruto's shadow clones transformed into the appearance of Hinata. Now, there were dozens of Hinatas on the field, making it impossible to tell which one was the real Hinata.
Neji had to be on guard against the real Hinata. What was truly annoying was that Naruto clearly knew the moves of the Gentle Fist.
Dozens of Hinatas simultaneously performed the moves of the Gentle Fist, and they all looked so real that each one seemed genuine.
Helplessly, Neji had no choice but to use the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven again, consuming a large amount of chakra to deal with the shadow clones.
Neji knew he was at a disadvantage in the fight. His chakra was being depleted rapidly, and he couldn't use moves like the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven many times.
Naruto's shadow clones weren't the real threat. What was truly terrifying was that they all transformed into Hinata's appearance, and even more terrifying was that one of them was the real Hinata mixed in among them.
Neji activated his Byakugan to the fullest, scanning the surrounding area in all directions around him, intending to use taijutsu to wear down Naruto's shadow clones.
Neji lowered his center of gravity, his hands moving with a combination of gentleness and firmness. With each palm strike, he dispelled one of the shadow clones, fighting in the most chakra - saving way possible.
Neji was extremely tense, using all his skills to execute a set of punches powerfully.
Naruto was equally surprised. Neji's taijutsu skills were extremely high, and for a moment, he couldn't do anything to him.
Neji kept punching. By sheer luck, he actually managed to pick out Naruto's real self from among the numerous shadow clones.
Neji struck Naruto in the abdomen with a palm, and Naruto flew out directly, heading straight towards Hinata and crashing into her.
Hinata was greatly startled, and her shocked expression gradually turned into one of bliss.
At this moment, Naruto was lying on top of Hinata, their lips locked tightly together. It was a truly beautiful sight.
Since Naruto hadn't yet dispelled the Transformation Jutsu, he still looked like Hinata.
In Neji's eyes, it was a truly eerie scene. Two versions of Hinata were embracing each other on the meadow, one on top and the other below, and they were even kissing!
Naruto felt as if he'd gotten drunk on nectar, with all his senses focused on that soft touch as the fluttering feeling traveled through his meridians and finally reached the crown of his head.
A thousand words are not as good as a single kiss, and a thousand solemn vows are not as good as a zero - distance encounter.
Naruto had so many things to say and so many things he wanted to do. If it weren't for the large number of onlookers and the fact that they were in the spotlight at the Chunin Exams arena, Naruto would have started "creating" Boruto.
Naruto thought to himself: Neji, you're really great! You're truly part of the family...
Reluctantly, Naruto pulled away from that tender touch. He looked around and thought helplessly: This isn't the right place. It seems Boruto will have to wait a bit longer...
"Sigh..." Naruto sighed and said, "That useless Boruto. Let's not have him come into the world too soon."
Naruto stole a glance at Hinata and noticed that her face was bright red. She was completely lost in the wonderful moment, and it seemed she'd lost all her combat ability.
It seemed that Hinata didn't resist at all. Naruto was overjoyed, but then he thought carefully: Boruto, Boruto. Your mother doesn't seem to resist your arrival, but I, your father, don't want to see you yet...
Naruto brushed aside all these chaotic thoughts. Although he didn't want Boruto to be born prematurely, wouldn't it be wonderful to kiss Hinata one more time?
Neji, come on! Hit me with another palm. This time, I definitely won't dodge. Send me straight into Hinata's arms, and I'll sincerely thank you for your help.
As this thought came to him, Naruto couldn't hold back. He rushed straight towards Neji. On the way, he deliberately dispelled the Transformation Jutsu and returned to his original appearance.
Naruto's actions startled Neji. He was afraid that Naruto had come up with some new strategy, so he quickly took a step back.
Naruto was taken aback and thought: Neji, why are you backing away... Come and hit me... I won't fight back... Hit me in Hinata's direction...
Neji thought to himself: Naruto is acting so abnormally. Plus, there was that terrifying burst of Chakra earlier. I have to be on guard in case it's a trick...
As Naruto kept approaching Neji, Neji felt that there was something even more strange about Naruto's behavior. Instead, Neji dared not get close to Naruto, creating a situation where when Naruto advanced, Neji retreated.
At this moment, seeing Naruto forcing Neji back step by step, Hinata began to regain her spirit. She stood up shakily and said softly, "I'm going to help Naruto..."
"Neji, what are you afraid of? There's nothing to be scared of. Come and hit me! Give me a palm to the chest."
Naruto wouldn't have raised Neji's suspicion if he hadn't spoken. But his words made Neji even more suspicious.
Naruto's abnormal behavior actually made Neji, who was good at close combat, choose long-range attacks.
Neji threw several Shurikens at Naruto, and Naruto quickly dodged.
As Naruto watched the Shurikens Neji threw, he was speechless (literally having black - lines all over his head metaphorically), thinking it was a joke.
"Aaaaah!" Naruto roared and planned to use the powerful Taijutsu he'd been intensively training in lately to fight Neji to the death.
This time, facing Naruto's fierce Taijutsu attack, Neji didn't have time to think and could only fight with all his might.
During the fight with Neji, Naruto seized the opportunity to calculate the direction and distance to Hinata. Then, he deliberately took a palm strike from Neji.
"Hinata, here I come again." Naruto pouted, already ready to kiss.
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