Soon, it was Naruto's turn to fight.
As expected, the storyline still matched up—his opponent was Kiba.
After saying a quick word to Hinata, Naruto jumped onto the battlefield.
Kiba greeted him with a confident grin.
"Naruto, looks like I've got an easy win this time!"
Naruto just laughed.
"Kiba, don't underestimate me!"
At that moment, the frail and sickly referee, Gekko Hayate, saw that both contestants had arrived at the arena and immediately announced the start of the match.
Naruto controlled the seal, letting out a faint trace of the Nine-Tails' chakra aimed at Kiba and Akamaru. Akamaru, being highly sensitive, suddenly had the terrifying illusion of a raging Nine-Tailed Fox staring straight at him. Completely terrified, he collapsed on the spot.
"Akamaru! What's wrong? Did you just pee yourself?!"
Seeing Akamaru wet himself, Kiba was in complete shock! Just moments ago, he had felt an overwhelming sense of fear coming from Naruto, then heard Akamaru whimper. When he turned around, he saw Akamaru trembling on the ground, a yellow puddle forming beneath him.
Kiba quickly picked Akamaru up. The poor dog was still shaking and refused to look at Naruto.
As Akamaru's partner, Kiba knew this was a sign of extreme fear, but he had no idea what had caused it.
"Naruto, hold on a sec. Something's wrong with Akamaru. I'll hand him over to Hinata for a bit."
Naruto nodded, and Kiba passed Akamaru to Hinata.
"Beast Mimicry Jutsu!"
Kiba transformed into his special battle form.
"Naruto, here I come!"
With that, he charged at Naruto on all fours, his movements swift and aggressive. As he got closer, a cruel grin appeared on his face.
Naruto, seemingly frozen in fear, didn't react at all.
"Naruto-kun!"
Up in the stands, Hinata was extremely nervous, gripping the trembling Akamaru tightly. Even Akamaru's white eyes were about to activate from the pressure.
Just as Kiba was about to strike Naruto from behind, Naruto suddenly spun around and landed a powerful kick, sending Kiba flying.
Kiba crashed into the wall and lost consciousness.
"Hey! Ref, can you call it now?" Naruto shouted at the referee.
Gekko Hayate used the Body Flicker Technique to quickly check on Kiba. Seeing that he had only passed out and wasn't seriously injured, he let out a sigh of relief and announced:
"The winner—Uzumaki Naruto!"
Everyone in the stands stared at Naruto in shock.
His classmates were especially stunned. None of them had expected the so-called dead last of their class to take down Kiba so easily!
The Third Hokage furrowed his brows.
"When did Naruto get this strong? And was that the Nine-Tails' chakra just now?"
He decided that after the exam, he needed to investigate Naruto's condition.
Just then, a new matchup appeared on the screen.
Hyuga Hinata vs. Hyuga Neji
Naruto quickly turned to Hinata.
"Hinata, listen! When the match starts, release Growlithe right away! You have to promise me!"
Hinata, lost in thought, nodded at Naruto's words.
Soon, the two cousins stood in the arena.
"Hinata, you got this!" Naruto cheered from above.
Neji looked at Hinata.
"I never thought I'd end up facing you, Lady Hinata."
Hinata nervously replied, "Neji-niisan…"
"Here's some advice—just forfeit. You're not suited to be a ninja."
Hearing Neji's words, Hinata looked shaken.
Gekko Hayate then signaled the start of the match.
A flash of red light appeared on Hinata's side, and sensing danger, Growlithe immediately materialized on the battlefield.
Neji looked at the sudden appearance of Growlithe.
"A ninja dog? Even with outside help, Lady Hinata, you won't stand a chance against me."
"Byakugan!"
With veins bulging around his eyes, Neji activated his Byakugan. But when he looked at Growlithe, he was momentarily taken aback.
"Lady Hinata… Is this just an ordinary dog? There's no chakra in its body at all! Hmph, you're just making pointless struggles. Nothing can escape these eyes!"
With that, Neji rushed at Hinata!
Growlithe, seeing Neji charge forward, ran to meet him head-on and used Leer.
The moment Growlithe's eyes locked onto Neji, an eerie sensation spread through Neji's body.
But Neji didn't notice anything unusual.
The Intimidate ability could lower an opponent's defense, but this was the real world—there were no visible stats, only the fact that attacks would hit harder.
Growlithe charged forward and used Tackle, suddenly speeding up and slamming into Neji. Because it was too fast, Neji could only raise his arms in a hurry to block the attack.
Neji was knocked backward, and his arms took quite a bit of damage.
He was full of confusion—what was up with this dog? How could it be this strong without chakra?
But Growlithe didn't give Neji any time to think. It immediately rushed at him again. Neji watched the charging Growlithe and prepared to counterattack.
But then he froze.
This dog didn't have chakra or pressure points—how was he supposed to fight it?
Neji wasn't very experienced, and he suddenly had no idea what to do. Every creature in the ninja world had at least a little chakra, and those without it wouldn't have this kind of speed and power.
Did he have to fight it head-on?
By then, Growlithe had already reached Neji and launched another Tackle. This time, Neji was ready—he dodged to the side.
Just as he started to relax, Growlithe suddenly twisted its body mid-dash and bit down on Neji's leg.
Then, without staying to fight, it immediately ran back to Hinata's side and stood guard.
Hinata was still in shock, but Neji had already taken some serious damage.
Up in the stands, Kiba, who had just regained consciousness, stared at the cool yet adorable Growlithe on the battlefield. His eyes filled with envy, and he couldn't help but let out a tearful sigh.
"What an amazing ninja dog!"
"I've never seen a summon like that before!"
"So strong!"
The crowd on the stands broke into heated discussions.
Looking at the injured Neji, the kind-hearted Hinata couldn't help but ask, "Are you okay, Neji-niisan?"
Neji glared at Growlithe.
He never expected to be wounded by a dog.
Unforgivable!
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