Chapter 7: 7. The Fight Against Might Guy

On top of one Konoha building, on its rooftop, there was a nice terrace with a wide and comfortable sitting space. Three young teenagers sat on there respectfully, with varying expressions on their faces, while an older man stood in front of them, observing them for a while curiously.

It turns out, he and Rock Lee were so late just now because they decided to "commemorate" their master-disciple relationship, and the so-called "youth", by running fifty laps around the village, totally forgetting about Neji and Tenten who waited for them back at the Academy classroom.

Might Guy introduced himself first and apologized to the indignant Tenten and indifferent Neji, and quickly brought all of them together to this building near the Academy to help familiarize everyone with one another. "As of today, you are all genin! So, not tell me, why have you done it? What are your goals?", Guy coughed and finally started the conversation, looking over them with interest.

He already got pretty familiar with Rock Lee before, who was nearly a mirror image of himself, in both mindset and looks, so he was mostly looking forward to the answers of the other two. Tenten looked like a very ordinary young girl, but Neji, although indifferent at first glance, looked at him with interest secretly from time to time, 'It seems Hyuga must've told him something about me.'

Tenten enthusiastically wanted to go first, and after Guy told her to speak, she declared loudly, "I want to be a great and powerful ninja, to walk in the footsteps of the legendary kunoichi, Tsunade!"

"I see, and you, Neji?", Guy nodded in understanding. It seemed to him that she already forgot about her previous grievances for having to wait that long after thinking of that legendary Sannin.

Guy really wanted to know the thoughts and motivations of this mysterious student of his next. He was also rumored by everyone to be the strongest genius of Konoha in recent years. Lee and Tenten also turned to look at him curiously at this time. "I'd rather not say!", But, after some consideration, and scrutiny in their eyes, Neji finally answered Guy's question in this way, disappointing all of them.

Tenten and Guy just sighed inwardly, already expecting such an answer, but Lee frowned on his face and thought indignantly, 'Hmph, you mysterious geniuses, just you wait until I surpass you all!'

Next, it was his turn to talk, so he straightened up and shouted excitedly while glancing at Neji challengingly, a few times, as he was speaking passionately, "I want to show I can be a splendid ninja as well, even If I do not have ninjutsu or genjutsu, I want to prove it to the whole world!"

'There is that look in his eye', Guy smirked inwardly, already acknowledging Lee inside his mind.

Tenten looked at him weirdly, even with some pity, while he was speaking. While Neji was still looking at the floor, not paying attention to him at all as if his words didn't even register in his ears.

Rock Lee suddenly curled his lips, turning embarrassed. But, just as he wanted to say something, Guy overtook him with a smirk on his face, "Alright, then it's time for a little practical exercise and real introduction! After all, only in this way, will I be able to measure your power of "youth", and see if you passed my test or not!", "Ahh!", Tenten and Rock Lee both stood up and exclaimed in shock.

And, just like that, on their way toward one of the Konoha's many large training fields, he explained to them that after graduation from the Academy, every shinobi instructor is allowed to give them one final test to see if they meet his criteria and if they can really graduate and form a team next.

***

Somewhere still inside the Konoha village wall bounds, but away from the current center of the village, were wide-ranging green grasslands, filled with trees in some areas, and many smaller water streams cutting through them. Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten stood on one side, and Guy on the other.

Neji was a few inches taller than them, looking at least two years their senior. It was all due to the Hyuga body exercises, optimal nutrition, and specialized body training he did basically since he was a child. Targeted muscle exercises, high frequency, and heavy weight lifting, alongside yoga-like stretching. It was something he picked from his previous world, alongside basic nutrition principles.

"Your test is this - you're going to fight against me with everything you got, and I'll determine if you passed or not!", Guy shouted as he made some kind of a weird, and passionate-like body gesture.

He also noticed some of their strange body differences at this time but didn't comment too much.

Tenten's face suddenly turned serious. She already knew from her parents just how strong this person in front of her was. But, she also noticed that fortunately, he didn't mention defeating him.

"Alright, Guy-sen-", But, suddenly, just as excited Lee wanted to say something from the side, both he and Tenten, noticed a speedy gust of wind passing by them from the position where Neji stood.

Neji already activated his Byakugan, by the moment Guy finished speaking, and rushed over to fight head-first. He really wanted to gather some useful information with his eyes from Guy's body, in a moment, and couldn't contain himself. After all, it was a really big privilege to get to spar with him personally, so he couldn't hold anymore, with his really eager for strength type personality. He already hit some kind of bottleneck before, due to his exposure only to Hyuga's techniques and training systems before. He already mastered all of those, and he urgently needed something new.

"Heyy!", Rock Lee stomped his feet on the ground in anger, and also rushed over, not wanting to get overtaken by Neji. Tenten sighed a little and also went on, but looking at the place from which Neji disappeared, she really had to acknowledge such speed. They didn't even notice his shadow.

'Show me your taijutsu system!', Neji already appeared in front of Guy, with a wilded look in his eyes, launching his Gentle Fist attack straight towards Guy's internals. Already noticing some of Guy's body muscles tensing and preparing to activate, as to evade his attack. He could almost see even Guy's cells moving, and preparing to fire off, at such close distances. His current Byakugan internal vision level was only to the level of seeing tissues, but it's also gradually approaching the level of seeing cells themselves, only two or three years away, especially at such close distances.

And just as he excepted, the moment he was about to let his attack fall on Guy, the man swiftly disappeared from his place, in the trajectory Neji anticipated with his vision before but didn't manage to react with his current body speed, 'That was just his ordinary speed.', Neji thought.

Seeing Guy appearing right behind him next, Neji didn't allow him to strike, immediately activating his Rotation, expelling some pure chakra from all of his tenketsu points, outside his body, and then spinning it rapidly as to create some kind of relatively large, blue centrifuge-like repelling force.

'What on Earth!? How did he learn that thing!? Wasn't this technique only taught to the Hyuga main branch members!? And he's only twelve years old!', Guy jumped back to avoid the spinning force, but he was flabbergasted. Tenten and Lee stopped on the side and looked over in shock and awe.

In fact, it was no easy job for Neji to learn that technique at all. It took him years and years of constant arduous training to learn it. Thankfully in the beginning he used to secretly train to expel and rotate his chakra while also being at the Academy, so he didn't waste a second of his time.

From the first baby steps and just using a few tenketsu points, like on his hands or tights, while in the classes, for example, he gradually learned recently to do it, all at once, from all of his tenketsu points, at the same time, and then rotate all of that released chakra accordingly to produce the move.

'Vacuum Palm!', That other technique was also completely learned just recently. Neji activated it next, with his both palms, while once again jumping onto stunned Might Guy in the distance, wanting to effectively close his escape options and force him to face him head-on in a clash. This technique is done by fiercely expelling chakra from some of his tenketsu points around his arms and chest forward, toward the targeted area in the distance, the attack will also shut down enemies' tenketsu points and damage internal organs depending on the degree of success of a collision.

Seeing the two Vacuum Palms coming towards him, Guy was even more shocked, so shocked, in fact, that he totally lost all of his previous funny mannerisms and opened his eyes wide in shock, with sweat, 'T-This is that technique of the Hyuga clan's patriarch! H-How does Neji have it as well!?'

Just in that moment of shock, when he could dodge to neither of his sides because of Neji's chakra blasts, Neji suddenly appeared right in front of him, attempting to strike him frontally with his palm.

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Neji's already wide-opened and exerted veiny Byakugan eyes suddenly intently focused just on this moment, observing any changes from inside of Might Guy's body, recording everything to memory.

Tenten and Rock Lee already had their eyes wide open from everything that happened in these few moments. However, just in the next second, instead of being hit by Neji's Gentle Fist style attack, Might Guy suddenly disappeared from their vision once again, but now even quicker than before.

'It's as I thought. That's why he was so strong in the original even in his normal state without opening Inner Gates. All taijutsu experts have learned the so-called Chakra Enhancement', Neji thought, from Might Guy's previous inner muscle contractions already realizing where he went.

'That's how Rock Lee and Might Guy uprooted trees, shattered walls, why they were so strong and quick, superhuman even in their base states. Even Sasuke noticed that Lee used chakra on his hands in the original series at the beginning of the Chunin Exams. He can't bring chakra outside in the forms of genjutsu or ninjutsu, but he can still strengthen his body abilities with it, same as Guy...'

Shinobi can enhance their physical capabilities with chakra to perform superhuman feats. Training the body improves the flow of chakra through the chakra pathway system which makes it stronger, tougher, and faster along with the benefits of physical fitness. As everyone possesses chakra, anyone can develop powerful bodies through physical training even without knowledge of how to use it. But they cannot reach the same heights as ninja.

By learning to create and wield their chakra, ninja continually develop their chakra pathways as they increase the quality and quantity of the chakra flowing through their bodies. At the same time, they unconsciously enhance their bodies with chakra to make them physically superior to the average human being in practically every respect. Even children in training have abilities that surpass grown men and allow them to jump over tall obstacles, run across treetops, and scale buildings with ease.

The next level of chakra enhancement is to then consciously focus the chakra in different parts of the body which vitalizes the muscles to make them stronger and tougher. Focusing chakra into their legs and feet lets them run faster or jump higher, and focusing it into their arms and hands lets them endure greater force or hit harder.

Increasing the amount of chakra magnifies the effects of enhancement but there is a limit on how much can be safely focused in one area. In addition to the loss of stamina, the more chakra used and the longer it is used for then the greater the backlash it has on the body as the excess energy wears on their muscles and nerves.

The better developed the shinobi's body then the more chakra they can safely focus within their limbs because it is more capable of withstanding the additional energy and the force it exerts.

Therefore, a taijutsu specialist, like Might Guy, would typically benefit more from a conscious chakra enhancement than a genjutsu specialist, as their bodies are more physically developed. They could really use it to the fullest.

And as well as strength and speed, chakra can be used to enhance the senses. By concentrating chakra in the right organs or nerves, a ninja can heighten any of their five senses beyond what humans are normally capable of. Like enhancing their sense of smell to discern the scents of different people, and their sense of hearing to understand an out-of-sight individual's movements based on the noises they make. That was probably how Might Guy fought with his eyes closed.

Previously, in their fight, Might Guy attached and focused his chakra onto his legs, so he could dodge Neji's previous attack with ease, but Neji managed to see the whole process with his eyes.

'I understand it now, I saw the way he moved chakra through his leg muscles, it's interesting. I'll try to do that way now as well, this is really better than what I did before!', Neji analyzed in a second, and suddenly increased his speed, in the same way as Might Guy did, and started chasing after him.

Might Guy didn't manage to express his shock anymore, because Neji got more and more familiar with this chakra enhancement trick, while the exchange of blows between them progressed, and alongside his Hyuga techniques, gradually managed to overpower Might Guy in his base form.

"I-Is that the strongest jonin currently in Konoha my parents talked about..?", Tenten's face was dazed and her whole worldview collapsed as she watched. She didn't know if Neji was just that strong, or if Might Guy was lacking compared to his reputation, but it was probably the first case.

Rock Lee gritted his teeth and clenched his fists hard in indignation, "Is this the natural genius...?"

Might Guy overall had a much stronger body than Neji. And with his "Strong Fist" style he managed to land a few painful hits on Neji's body in the beginning. But, gradually Neji's Byakugan masterful precognition ability started reading Guy's body movements further and easier as the Strong Fist style relied mainly on hard and powerful shots with required a high degree of muscle contractions.

Neji got better and better reads on Might Guy, with his recognition, as the battle progressed, so the much stronger body advantage slowly evaporated between them. Neji also had near the three hundred and sixty-degree vision all around him, while Guy didn't have that advantage. Also, the Strong Fist was a fighting style, with the simple purpose to cause external damage and break bones.

It was the exact opposite of the Gentle Fist. This style of fighting involves smashing your opponent and is generally used only by extremely physically powerful and dominating shinobi. It was the most basic branch of taijutsu styles, that had no other unpredictable and secret techniques like Neji's Rotation, Vacuum Palm, tenketsu sealing, internal organs distraction, and more, it was inferior to Neji's Soft First style used in combination with his advanced Byakugan. So, Might Guy was losing.

"Guy-sensei, I estimate that you would need to open at least four of your Eight Inner Gates to deal with the current me. You should've guessed by now, I'm generally on a middle jonin level.", Neji called Guy his sensei for the first time, and respectfully advised. The previous chakra enhancement trick was half figured out by him before this battle, so he was more interested in the Guy's famous Eight Inner Gates openings, the first step to his long-ago thought plan for changing his fate. Yes, he also wants to learn about it in this battle. This was what he was the most excited about at the time.

Guy probably wouldn't teach him that legendary technique due to various reasons, but he needs to learn it as soon as possible. It was the most logical next choice for his strength improvement, so he decided that he would spy on it in this battle against Guy, and later try and figure it out on its own.

"Haha, no need to get so overworked today, Neji! Our youth has just started! You all passed brats!", Might Guy smiled and stopped fighting all of a sudden. Their conversation overhead by Tenten and Rock Lee as well, who were still dazed from the previous clash and unresponding to his statement.

Neji also heard that, lowered his guard, and returned toward Rock Lee and Tenten, his face showing a very disappointed expression for a second, but he quickly covered it up and returned to neutral.

Guy's face was also all smiles, but deep inside he frowned hard, 'This kid Neji is way stronger than that Lord Hokage's report indicated. He even learned all of Hyuga's secret techniques and my way of chakra enhancements at a glance. I must pass this information on to Lord Hokage later as well.',

'But, no matter what, he's still my student now! I'm just worried about how will Tenten and Rock Lee cope with his mountain-like genius presence in front of them. They also must be trained hard in both mindset and skills. It seems that we need to go pretty hard with them from the beginning!'

"Rock Lee, Tenten, listen up! Neji was born into Konoha's biggest family, and judging by some of the techniques he just revealed just now, he's probably even personally trained by the current Hyuha patriarch! And not only that, he's even recognized as the strongest genius in that clan's whole history of hundred of years, alongside also having been recognized as the most dazzling genius of the whole village ever since Itachi Uchiha appeared! Even Lord Hokage paid big attention to him!",

Guy stopped paying attention to Neji and turned extremely serious once he spoke to pale-faced Tenten and Rock Lee, whose determinations started wavering after seeing Neji's amazing ability.

"I say that because I don't mean that it's impossible to catch up to him, or even overtake him, but that it will be difficult as climbing a mountain. So your efforts must be a hundredfold from now on!"

"Today's meeting is over! Think about it carefully when you get home! If you don't accept my words, then I'm sorry but I'll continue training only Neji, and you will be dropped off, Lord Hokage will also agree. I don't need any weak-minded dragging on my team. If you're prepared to train hundred times harder in the future, then don't come here tomorrow to the meeting, only Neji can come!"