Blazing eyes (Uchiha OC/SI) chapter 55 (Patreon)

Chapter 55

Rasa felt uneasy as he entered Konoha. As soon as he passed the gates, one of the Sannin met him. Jiraiya dismissed his escorts and stepped to welcome Rasa himself. Rasa immediately understood that the Sannin was here to keep watch over him. Of course, Konoha wouldn’t trust him after what he tried to do.

If they didn’t concern themselves with the reaction from the other villages, Rasa didn’t think Konoha would let him be. He will have to be on his best behavior in Konoha. He had to find Baki first if he was allowed to move on his own before the chunin exam final test began. But seeing as Jiraiya was here, it didn’t seem he could do anything alone.

“We welcome you to our humble village, Kazekage-sama,” Jiraiya said as he motioned to follow him. “I know what you have in your mind, but you need not to worry. Our Hokage has considered that Orochimaru manipulated your village, and it is partially our fault, so as long as you continue without a peace treaty, we will forgive you for this accident this time.”

“Forgive?” Rasa asked. “How generious. But I know nothing is free in this world. What is the price I and my village must pay for your forgiveness.”

“If it puts your mind at peace, then I will confirm your worries,” Jiraiya replied. “The Hokage doesn’t want to make the situation worse. But Orochimaru still poses a danger to the village. So, we shall ask Suna to help us hunt him down.”

That was something Rasa could accept. Konoha is probably more worried about Orochimaru and his actions. And Suna isn’t able to do anything anyway. It was in their best interest to kill Orochimaru and put it all in the past. Konoha knew it, too, so he couldn’t refuse to help hunt down the criminal who tried to assassinate him.

“Hokage-sama will provide you with more details,” Jiraiya said. “Please follow me. We shall arrive at the tournament arena. Hokage-sama is waiting.”

Rasa nodded. It was better to deal with the fallout sooner than later. He was also concerned about why Kaen Uchiha had left in a hurry. He hoped it had nothing to do with Gaara. It would be best to get him disqualified from the exam. Rasa knew how unstable Gaara was, and while it initially would have helped Suna, now it would be troublesome to deal with.

…

Hinata rested her palm on the log she was practicing. Her mind was on the battle she would face soon, and she was worried. She would like to fight anyone else instead of Neji if it were up to her. Neji was like a brother to Hinata. They grew up together and were taught together. But at some point, a wall emerged between them.

Since Neji graduated from the academy, Hinata could tell Neji started to change. She couldn’t understand why, but the clan elders began to act differently with them. Hinata was disturbed by how the elders looked at her. She knew she never was good enough and stayed silent no matter what they said about her. But she couldn’t understand why Neji started to act so distant with her.

“It is time,” Kiba said while waiting for her. “The matches will begin soon.”

“I am coming,” Hinata replied, following Kiba to the tournament arena.

Hinata had to become resolute, even if she was worried. She couldn’t let down her sensei and father anymore. Father has spent all his time helping her in the past month, even when she repeatedly failed to meet his expectations. She couldn’t betray her father’s and sensei’s faith. But Neji was stronger than her. She didn’t see how she could win.

…

Kaen looked at the people gathered in the arena. He didn’t even have time to meet with the rest of his students and only check on Shino. After seeing that his condition was top-notch, Kaen was ambushed by the elders and had to attend to some nobles from the Land of Fire before taking his seat in the arena.

He was among the first to take his seat and had to wait for the others. While the Third Hokage was still resting, Kaen was disguised as him. He has also created a shadow clone to stay with the other sensei. Soon enough, people started to gather, as well as the participants. Jiraiya came in with the Fourth Kazekage just before the tournament began.

“Oh, Kazekage-dono, you finally came,” Kaen said. “You must be tired from the journey.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Kazekage asked after taking a look at Kaen’s disguise. “Where is the Hokage?”

“Heh, your eyes have become sharper,” Kaen commented, switching his voice to normal. “If only you could have seen through Orochimaru’s lies.”

“Kaen Uchiha,” Kazekage realized who he was talking with. “Where is the Hokage?”

“Do you think we would let our Hokage sit near you?” Kaen asked. “While we will pretend to be friendly with each other, I will not risk the life of Hokage for such trivial things.”

It was enough reason for the Fourth Kazekage, so Kaen stayed silent and instead looked at the participants. Firstly, he saw Naruto with his bright hair and jacket, then Sasuke next to him. Kaen had to take a double look at Sasuke, who was dirty and wore tattered clothes. It looked like he came out of a fight. Kakashi was pushing Sasuke to the very last minute.

Hinata and Shino were here, too. Hinata looked nervous, and Kaen could see her playing with her hands. Shino was worried, too, if he overlooked Hinata’s actions. Temari, Gaara, Neji, and Shikamaru stood still, and nothing could be seen from their expression. Seeing that everyone was there, Kaen stood from his seat and addressed everyone.

“Thanks to everyone for coming to Konoha Chunin Exam!” Kaen began. “We now start the main tournament matches between the eight participants who passed through the preliminaries. Please stay and watch till the end!”

…

Hearing the Third Hokage’s voice, Hinata looked at her fellow genin as they straightened up. Hinata stopped playing with her hands and looked up to see Hayate Gekko explaining the rules. They were the same as in the preliminaries. Feeling the gazes of the crowd made Hinata even more anxious. She didn’t even dare to look at them.

“Now, first fight Hinata Hyuga, Neji Hyuga, you two stay,” Hayate Gekko said. “The rest go to the waiting room.”

Hinata stepped forward with Neji. She felt a pat from Shino and heard Naruto yell out for her to beat him down. It gave her a small amount of courage she was lacking before. She stood as tall as she could before Neji and tried her best to hide her nervousness. Yet Hinata didn’t believe that Neji hadn’t noticed how she felt.

“I will say it before the match, Hinata-sama, forfeit,” Neji said before Hayate Gekko could announce the start of the match.

“I am sorry, Neji-kun,” Hinata looked at his eyes. “I won’t forfeit, I won’t run. Even if I am scared, I will face everything before me.”

“You can’t fool my eyes!” Neji looked at Hinata with his byakugan activated. “I can tell you are thinking of all your past experiences until now, and you are imagining the result of this match. You will lose. Knowing this result, do you still wish to continue?”

“I won’t run,” Hinata said.

“And I don’t want to hurt you, Hinata-sama,” Neji replied. “You are weak. It is my duty to protect you. Yet you refuse it, believing that you are strong. Yet I can tell from how you looked right and left, how you hold your hands, and your trembling lips that you know you are weak.”

“I want to change,” Hinata could barely say.

“You won’t,” Neji said. “And I will make you realize it. You need me to protect you. Know, your place, Hinata-sama.”

“Even then, I won’t run away,” Hinata got into a gentle palm taijutsu stance.

“Fine,” Neji replied, doing the same.

Activating their byakugan, they rushed at each other. Hinata struck first, extending her palm to strike Neji’s head. But Neji blocked it while lowering his stance. Neji struck his palm into Hinata’s thigh, but Hinata stepped back and blocked his attack. Seeing an opportunity, Hinata struck her palm into Neji’s stomach, but she only felt her palm grazing him.

She knew she needed to try harder. Stepping forward, Hinata struck her palm into his chest before Neji could escape her range. But Neji predicted her actions and struck first. His arm was longer, so Hinata couldn’t reach him before Neji’s palm struck her chest. Hinata felt blood coming up her throat, but she bit down her lips and struck Neji’s arm.

Neji jumped back in surprise. Hinata coughed up the blood bile while Neji held his arm. His arm was injured, but not enough to hinder him. Getting back into his stance, he rushed at Hinata again. Hinata knew that blocking his attack was useless. So, she stepped forward. It was the only way to reach him. She again tried to go for his head, but Neji was faster, striking the joint of her arm. And with a palm strike to the chest, he knocked Hinata to the ground.

“This is your limit, Hinata-sama,” Neji said. “Give up and accept that you are weak. Accept that you need my protection.”

“I can continue,” Hinata stood up.

“You will only get hurt if you continue,” Neji said. “The shinobi world isn’t for you. If you continue this path, you will only get more and more hurt.”

“Even so, I will continue,” Hinata stared at Neji’s eyes with determination.

Hinata knew she should use other skills if she wanted to win; her gentle palm taijutsu style was weaker than Neji’s, but she couldn’t. She wanted to prove to Neji that she wasn’t weak, that she could do it. So, once again, she rushed at Neji, trying to hit him. Yet it was to no avail. Neji easily dodged her strikes and once again struck her chest. Blood rose from Hinata’s throat as she felt she couldn’t breathe.

“Why can’t you understand, Hinata-sama?” Neji asked. “It hurts me seeing you getting hurt. Give up, and let me protect you as I should. It is my duty as a member of the branch family of the Hyuga clan.”

“It hurts me too,” Hinata said, regaining her breath. “Your strikes hurt me, but seeing you hurt me more, brother. I don’t care about your duty or anything. You are my brother, and I want to protect you as you have always protected me.”

Hinata gathered all her strength and will to face Neji once again. She rushed at him. Neji replied likewise and, with his longer reach, struck Hinata’s chest once more. It would have knocked her down for good this time. But Hinata, with her left hand, grabbed his arm and struck his chakra points on the arm with her right arm. The attack was surprising, fast, and precise.

When Neji got his arm back, he couldn’t use it anymore. Hinata still stood even when her legs were trembling, and she had difficulty breathing. Neji stood in shock while holding his disabled arm. He didn’t know what to do. Any attack would knock Hinata down at this point, but he couldn’t bring himself to attack Hinata anymore.

“The match is over,” Before Neji realized, Kaen Uchiha was behind Hinata using healing palm jutsu on her. “Hinata is disqualified because of my interference.”

“The winner is Neji Hyuga,” Hayate Gekko announced.

“She will be fine,” Kaen said to Neji. “Even though I must teach her not to do something so foolish. You better get your arm looked at before your match, Neji Hyuga.”

Neji nodded and left just as Kaen disappeared with Hinata in his arms. Kaen was impressed with Hinata's willpower, but he would have a few words with her for recklessly and foolishly fighting her. The fight would have gone differently if she had used everything he had taught her. After checking to see that there weren’t any injuries that needed immediate inspection, Kaen left Hinata in Kiba’s care.