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Training Ground Seven.
Team 3 stood assembled, waiting under the morning sun.
"Hahahaha! I can Already Feel the YOUTHFUL Energy from this ground!"
Might Guy, their new Jonin instructor, stood before them, hands on his hips, his white teeth flashing in a brilliant smile.
Beside him, his three new students:
Neji is cold and unreadable.
Tenten, steady but slightly nervous.
Rock Lee, vibrating with pure excitement.
Guy's heart swelled.
"Ahhh — THIS is YOUTH!" he bellowed, flexing dramatically.
Lee mirrored him instantly, practically glowing with pride.
Tenten grimaced, already regretting life choices.
Neji, naturally, remained expressionless.
He'd expected nothing less.
Guy eventually sobered, clearing his throat.
"Now, to pass my test and officially become genin, it's very simple!" he declared. "You must prove your YOUTHFUL flames by... fighting me!"
"...Say that again in human language, please," Neji said calmly.
Guy coughed.
"Alright, fine," he said, dropping the theatrics. "You fight me. If I'm satisfied with your strength and teamwork, you pass. If not you're back to the academy."
No riddles.
No illusions.
Just a straight, brutal measurement of strength.
"The world of shinobi has no mercy," Guy said, serious now. "If you're weak, you die. Better you learn that here than on a real battlefield."
The mood shifted instantly.
Lee straightened, determination blazing in his eyes. Tenten's hand dropped to her weapon pouch, tension coiling in her shoulders. Neji's stance shifted subtly looser, but sharper.
'Good' Guy thought, smiling internally. 'They understand.'
"Come at me with everything you have," he ordered.
In a flash, they moved.
Months — years of informal training and "sparring" experience kicked in.
Neji led the charge, a blur across the ground.
Lee veered wide to the side, covering the flank.
Tenten melted into the background, slipping out of Guy's line of sight entirely.
Their positioning was textbook perfect seamless, practiced, deadly.
Even Guy's seasoned instincts flickered in appreciation.
They move like real shinobi already...
But there was no time to admire.
Neji's Gentle Fist lashed out swiftly, precise, aimed straight at Guy's chakra points.
It wasn't brute strength that made it dangerous it was technique. A clean hit would wreck internal pathways, crippling a target in moments.
Guy met the first few strikes calmly, chakra shielding his vital spots.
But Neji wasn't pressing blindly.
One moment, he attacked hard; the next, his movements twisted into a whirlpool-like spin pulling rather than pushing.
Guy's brows lifted slightly.
That's not standard Gentle Fist...
A sharp instinct flared in his mind he forcefully pulsed chakra outward, disrupting Neji's pull just in time.
At the same moment—
Whoosh!
Lee's spinning low kick, Konoha Whirlwind, sliced in from Guy's blind spot.
Guy shifted instinctively, catching Lee's leg with his own in a mirrored counter-kick.
The collision cracked the air a clean, even match of raw taijutsu.
But Neji only smiled faintly.
"Now," he murmured.
From above, Tenten descended, unrolling a massive scroll midair.
Dark clouds of shuriken and kunai rained down, perfectly timed to catch Guy just as he defended against Lee's attack.
Lee disengaged with a quick backflip, clearing the zone.
Guy was momentarily alone, vulnerable in a rare situation.
'Impressive...' he thought, even as his chakra flared again.
But not enough.
Guy's body tensed energy gathering at his core.
At the last possible second, he exploded into motion.
His limbs blurred, knocking aside the incoming storm of weapons with ruthless precision.
Each movement was economical.
Sharp.
Deadly.
Neji's Byakugan and Observation Haki flared, analyzing everything but even he couldn't fully track Guy's overwhelming speed.
'No wonder he nearly kicked the final boss of the world into oblivion' Neji thought grimly.
Lee and Neji nodded subtly at each other.
No breathing room.
No recovery time.
They dove back into the fray, fists flying, bodies weaving around each other in perfect synchronization.
Tenten didn't sit idle either.
She darted into the trees, scrolls unfurling again, laying traps and secondary weapon formations in the surrounding forest.
Everything was going according to plan.
But of course, Guy noticed.
He caught sight of Tenten vanishing into the woods.
'Smart' he thought approvingly.
He rammed a solid punch into Lee's stomach, sending the boy skidding back not hard enough to cripple, but hard enough to hurt.
Turning, Guy faced Neji again, the boy's modified Gentle Fist pressing harder, faster, sharper.
This kid... this isn't normal Hyuga style...
There was improvisation.
Creativity.
Danger.
Guy's grin widened.
Guess I'll have to get serious, too.
"Gate of Opening," he muttered under his breath.
First Gate — Open!
A sudden surge of chakra burst from his body, sending dust and leaves spiraling outward.
Neji's eyes narrowed.
The pressure alone was suffocating.
In a blink, Guy slammed his elbow toward Neji's gut.
Neji's clone took the full force of the blow, exploding into a cloud of smoke and debris.
From behind a tree, Neji's real body watched silently, smiling faintly.
Tenten's setup must be ready by now.
It was time to move to phase two.
But before he could, Guy's sharp gaze cut toward the forest edge.
"That's enough," he said, voice still warm but laced with quiet authority.
He turned toward the trees.
"Tenten, pack it up. I'm not falling into that trap today."
A small, defeated figure crept out from behind a thick oak, looking absolutely crushed.
She must have prepared a ridiculous number of traps.
Guy chuckled internally.
Smart kids. Real shinobi already.
Facing his team, he dropped into a relaxed stance, the overwhelming chakra receding.
"You fought well," he said, genuinely proud. "Better than I expected. You even forced me to open the First Gate."
He beamed at them the human version of a victory fireworks display.
"I hereby declare: all of you pass!"
Lee staggered forward, rubbing his sore stomach but grinning fiercely.
Neji reappeared beside him, his clothes a little dusty but otherwise unscathed.
Tenten trudged up from the forest, still sulking slightly.
But as the three gathered, Lee's brow furrowed.
He glanced between Neji — spotless.
Tenten — spotless.
Himself — bruised and battered.
'Wait a second...'
'Why does it feel like I'm the only one who got beat up?!'
His frown deepened as realization set in.
Something's not right here!
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