stonecrandall Chapter 479 Neji VS Lee Tenten 8 Clouds
Chapter 479 Neji VS Lee Tenten 8 Clouds
Chapter 479 Neji VS Rock Lee, Tenten, Yakumo
Neji raised his hand and gently pressed down on Sasuke's wrist, which was already gripping the hilt of his sword and poised to strike.
"No need to rush, Sasuke." Neji's voice remained calm as he swept his light across the nine Shikamaru members who looked on high alert, then glanced down at Naruto, who had temporarily stopped fighting due to the rising barrier and was looking up at him with suspicion.
"Your task is to keep an eye on Naruto."
After saying that, he released his grip and took a step forward.
As he moved, Kaguya Kimimaro and Otsutsuki Toneri on the left and right sides of the roof also took a step forward at the same time.
The three of them moved in an astonishingly synchronized manner, their footsteps landing precisely in a single, overlapping sound, forming a triangular shape that subtly surrounded the nine members of Shikamaru's team in the center.
Despite being outnumbered, the calm, reserved yet unfathomable aura emanating from the three, along with the Four Purple Flame Array that isolated them from the outside world, created a heavy pressure.
Shikamaru and his nine companions, enveloped in the Four Purple Flames Formation, instantly felt their breath catch in their throats.
The air seemed to have become even hotter due to the intense heat of the barrier's flames.
Shikamaru's forehead was covered in a fine layer of cold sweat, but his brain was working at its maximum speed.
escape?
The barrier isolates the inside from the outside, and a forceful attack to break through it carries unknown risks and would immediately result in being surrounded and attacked by three people.
negotiation?
Judging from their setup—four puppets blocking the four corners, a fifth patrolling the perimeter, and three elite ninjas surrounding them in a triangular formation without attacking—they were clearly there to close the net.
The only way is to fight, to find weaknesses in the battle, or to wait for possible changes.
Naruto might waver in his decision to escape because of Sakura's appearance, and Sasuke might not stand by and watch his comrades fall into a deadly situation.
Although the hope is slim.
Moreover, these variables are all unknowns and cannot be the core of tactics; he must make the optimal allocation under the existing conditions.
Shikamaru made a decision almost instantly and quickly issued instructions based on his analysis of his teammates' abilities and the limited information he had about the enemy.
"Lee, Tenten, Yakumo!" Shikamaru deliberately raised his voice to ensure it was clearly heard: "You guys are responsible for holding Neji back! Stall him!"
"Choji, Ino, come with me and stop Kimimaro!" Shikamaru's gaze swept over the white-haired boy who was shirtless, holding a bone spike, and exuding a cold killing intent.
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio is their strongest spear and shield, and must be used to deal with the seemingly most threatening enemy.
Finally, he looked at Kiba, Shino, and Sakura: "Kiba, Shino, you two work together to try and hold off the other guy! Sakura—"
Shikamaru's gaze fell on the pink-haired girl's face, which was slightly pale with tension. His tone became more serious: "Your mission is the most important! Find an opportunity to get close to Naruto! Bring him back!"
This was the optimal allocation that Shikamaru could think of in a split second.
The plan is to send Rock Lee, who excels in taijutsu and frontal attacks, Tenten, who is skilled in mid-to-long-range ninja tool support, and Yakumo Kurama, who possesses special genjutsu abilities, to deal with Neji Hyuga, who is known for his taijutsu and insight, in the hope of using a variety of attack patterns to restrain him.
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio possesses powerful control, attack, and defense capabilities, designed to counter the unknown but clearly dangerous Kimimaro.
Kiba and Shino's tracking, harassment, and crowd control abilities are well-suited to dealing with another mysterious boy.
Sakura—while she may be the weakest in terms of fighting ability among this group, she is also the most important.
Because she is the object of Naruto's affections, a fact that everyone knew since their time at the Ninja Academy.
Perhaps her appearance and persuasion will have an unexpected impact on Naruto.
"Understood!" everyone responded in unison. Despite their nervousness, their long-term training and the trust of their comrades enabled them to act immediately and disperse according to instructions.
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
The first to launch an attack was the ever-passionate Xiao Li!
The moment he received the command, he dashed out without hesitation, his figure like a green gust of wind, instantly covering the distance of more than ten meters between him and Neji. A powerful whip kick, accompanied by a piercing sound of air being torn apart, swept fiercely towards Neji's upper body!
He needed to create opportunities for his teammates to launch follow-up attacks.
At the same time, Tian Tian slapped the huge scrolls on both sides of her waist!
Dozens of kunai, shuriken, senbon, scythes, and caltrops gushed out from the scroll, splitting into two torrents of steel under the pull of chakra.
They drew countless intersecting arcs in the air, simultaneously covering Neji's position from the left, right, and overhead directions, sealing off all his space for lateral evasion.
The trajectory of each ninja tool is coordinated with the surrounding ninja tools, leaving no gaps.
Kurama Yakumo, who was at the very back, quickly knelt on one knee, forming a hand seal in front of her chest, with a faint purple chakra light flowing between her fingertips and eyes.
Her breathing had become extremely slow since the beginning, with each rise and fall of her chest occurring three heartbeats apart.
The illusions of the Kurama clan do not create illusions, but rather control the five senses.
Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
She can make someone live in a completely fake world if she wants.
At this moment, Yakumo, like a lurking spider, waited for the best opportunity to strike.
Faced with the coordinated attack of the three, Neji simply turned slightly to the side and raised his right hand.
Snapped!
A crisp sound.
Neji's palm struck Lee's sweeping leg with precision, deflecting the violent force with a subtle, gentle touch.
At the same time, he brought his right index and middle fingers together, like a viper spitting its tongue, and in the instant Xiao Li was slapped away, he struck a specific acupoint on the outside of Xiao Li's thigh with lightning speed.
Gentle Fist Techniques: Acupressure!
A stream of pure and condensed chakra instantly penetrated Lee's pressure points!
Xiao Li felt a numbness in his right leg, as if countless tiny electric currents were running through it. His originally smooth chakra flow and muscle control momentarily froze and became disordered!
"What?!" Lee was shocked, but he reacted quickly. Using the force of being knocked away, he forcefully rolled to the side in mid-air, clenched his left fist, gathered chakra, and threw a fierce straight punch at Neji's face!
They attempted to use offense as a defense.
However, Neji seemed to have anticipated his actions.
The right hand, which had been used to strike the pressure points, did not retract. Instead, it flipped its wrist, opened its palm, and once again steadily caught Xiao Li's powerful punch.
The fists and palms collided, producing a dull thud.
Neji's body remained completely still, and not even the roof tiles beneath his feet cracked.
The force of that punch was like striking a bottomless pool of water, creating only a ripple before being silently swallowed up.
Using the recoil from the punch, Lee used his waist to perform a backflip, landing steadily in front of Tenten, creating a distance of several meters between himself and Neji.
When he landed, the numbness in his right leg had not completely subsided, and his movements paused slightly. However, he immediately used chakra to stimulate his acupoints and forcibly dispel the strange sensation.
In their very first encounter, his opponent saw through his attack rhythm and used the Gentle Fist technique of the Hyuga clan to disrupt it.
When Lee looked up at Neji again, his eyes had become even more fervent.
At that moment, Tenten's barrage of ninja tool attacks arrived like a torrential downpour.
Countless cold lights enveloped Neji from all directions.
Neji didn't even look up at the ninja tools that were attacking him.
His body moved sideways, tilted his head, slid, and leaned back amidst the dense gaps in the ninja tools, each movement extremely small.
A kunai brushed past his hair, a shuriken flew past the hem of his clothes, and a senbon needle pierced through the back of his collar and embedded itself in the wooden beam behind him. The needle was still trembling, but it did not pierce his skin.
His movements in the steel storm were as fluid as water, without a single superfluous motion.
It was as if they were strolling leisurely through a storm of steel.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Tian Tian was dumbfounded. Her ninja tool handling was already top-notch among her peers, and her cover shooting was a skill she had practiced hard. Yet, her opponent had dodged all of them so easily.
Is this the insightful ability of the Hyuga clan's Byakugan?
Neji looked up at Lee, who was rubbing his thigh and whose eyes were burning even more intensely.
"Lee, we don't want to hurt you," Neji said, his voice carrying a faint familiarity reminiscent of old classmates.
Before he defected from Konoha with his father, he was in the same class as Rock Lee and Tenten for a year at the Konoha Ninja Academy.
Back then, Xiao Li was a perennial underachiever, a hard-working but not top-notch student, while he was the most admired genius student.
But Xiao Li's never-give-up spirit and Tian Tian's gentle nature that didn't discriminate against anyone left an impression on him.
They are among the few people who will not distance themselves from or ridicule Xiao Li because of his poor grades or eccentric personality.
"I am here on the orders of Lord Menma to invite you all to visit the Land of Stars."
"There lies a landscape and future completely different from Konoha and the Land of Fire."
"Put down your weapons, and we can avoid unnecessary conflict."
His words were sincere, but the invitation seemed particularly forceful given the current tense atmosphere.
Xiao Li rubbed his still slightly numb thigh vigorously, and a brighter, more enthusiastic smile appeared on his face, his white teeth gleaming.
"Neji! You're still as strong as ever! No, you're even stronger than before!" Lee's voice was full of excitement, the pure joy of encountering an opponent worthy of his full effort.
"However, it is precisely because your opponent is a strong one that the battle is all the more meaningful!"
"This is the kind of clash that youth should have!"
As he spoke, Xiao Li bent down and moved his hands and feet quickly.
With a few soft "clicks," the seemingly ordinary leg wraps and wrist guards on his wrists and ankles were easily removed.
boom!boom!boom!boom!
Several heavy thuds rang out in succession!
The moment those heavy pieces landed, they smashed through the sturdy roof tiles and wooden beams below, revealing four deep craters and sending dust flying!
"Extreme weight training—" Neji looked at the four deep pits, a hint of understanding flashing in his pure white eyes, which then turned into an even more serious and solemn expression.
He remembered that Xiao Li had been undergoing rigorous, almost self-torturous, physical training, but he never expected that he would wear such terrifying weights even in his daily life.
After shedding these responsibilities, Li's speed and power will be elevated to a whole new level.
"Well then, let me see just how far you've come after shedding your shackles, Lee." Neji slowly assumed the starting stance of Gentle Fist.
"Drink it!!!"
Lee let out a long roar, and his chakra erupted like a volcano!
Green chakra energy surged from every pore of his body, forming a violent vortex visible to the naked eye!
His skin turned bright red from the rapid flow of blood and chakra, his black hair stood on end, and the veins on his forehead and neck bulged, instantly increasing his aura several times over!
Eight Gates Formation, Fourth Gate, Injury Gate, Open!
The sheer power and pressure emanating from the raging chakra even drew the attention of Shikamaru, Choji, and the others who were confronting Kimimaro and Toneri nearby, searching for an opportunity.
"I'm going all out, Neji!" Lee's voice was a little hoarse from the impact of chakra, but his fighting spirit burned to its peak.
"This is my youth!!!"
Just as Xiao Li's momentum reached its peak.
Kurama Yakumo, who had been kneeling on one knee, suddenly brightened up!
She completed the hand seals and, facing Neji, softly uttered a few words: "Dominate the Five Senses!"
Unlike the overwhelming power of ninjutsu, an invisible and intangible spiritual force instantly traversed a spatial distance of tens of meters and coiled around Neji!
This is a secret technique of the Kurama clan's bloodline limit, capable of directly interfering with and manipulating an opponent's five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and so on.
Touch.
Yakumo chose to first strip Neji of his most relied-upon vision, those all-seeing Byakugan eyes!
At the same moment that Yakumo activated his genjutsu, Lee, who had pushed his speed to the limit, also moved!
"Ritual Lotus!"
boom-!!!
The roof beneath Xiao Li's feet suddenly exploded!
All that remained where he had stood was a huge crater more than two meters in diameter and billowing dust!
But his figure had already disappeared!
No, it didn't disappear, it just happened too fast!
In the eyes of Tian Tian and the others, they couldn't even catch a glimpse of it!
With all the power he had gained after opening the fourth gate, Lee's right leg, like a battle axe, slashed fiercely towards Neji's head with a piercing shriek that tore through the air!
If this blow lands, even rocks will be shattered!
The timing was impeccable!
Yakumo's illusionary interference, Lee's decisive blow!
This is a coordinated tactic that the three-person team practiced diligently!
"It worked?!" Tian Tian was overjoyed and gripped the scroll tightly in her hand.
Swish!
However, Li Zhi's seemingly sure-fire kick missed completely!
His leg brushed past Neji's hair, but at the critical moment, Neji's body leaned back slightly, and with a gliding step, he moved half a step to the side like a willow leaf blown by the wind.
Lee's violent power was unleashed into the empty space, completely destroying a section of the roof behind Neji, with splinters of wood and tiles flying everywhere like a torrential rain.
Xiao Li's attack missed its mark, and alarm bells rang in his mind!
While in mid-air, he forcefully twisted his body, his feet acting as if they were springs, and kicked repeatedly on the wreckage that had not yet landed!
Bang bang bang bang—!
A lightning-fast series of kicks!
Each kick contained the terrifying power of opening the four gates, enough to shatter stone tablets and split rocks!
The dense shadows of legs completely enveloped Neji!
In a lull between the storm of attacks, Lee looked at Neji and found that Neji's eyes were tightly closed!
"What?!" Xiao Li exclaimed in surprise.
Neji did not use his all-seeing Byakugan to detect Lee's attack, nor did he panic because he was deprived of his visual senses.
He maintained his composure, relying on some kind of sense to neutralize Li's series of kicks that were powerful enough to shatter steel, by either turning to the side, blocking, or deflecting the force.
His movements were precise, concise, and efficient, as if he could predict the landing point and force of Xiao Li's every attack.
Hands, forearms, elbows—every part of his body became the perfect shield and lever, channeling Li's raging power...
Deflect, unload.
Even with his eyes closed, he appeared more composed than when his eyes were open.
"How is this possible?!" Tian Tian exclaimed in shock from not far away, almost dropping the scroll in her hand.
"Even Lee, who has already opened the fourth gate—his speed is clearly that fast! And Neji even had his eyes closed?!"
'
Her gaze suddenly shifted to Yakumo Kurama behind her: "Yakumo! Use your illusion magic—"
At this moment, Tenta noticed that Kurama Yakumo's face was deathly pale.
Yakumo's shock was far greater than Tenten's.
She has absolute confidence in her bloodline limit.
Once the five senses are activated, there is absolutely no way to escape unless the opponent possesses mental strength far exceeding one's own or has special anti-illusion techniques.
Neji was not only not deprived of his sight, but he was completely unaffected?
He closed his eyes, was it to fight against the illusion?
No, even with eyes closed, touch and hearing should still be affected.
Yakumo stared intently at Neji, who remained as steady as a mountain amidst the barrage of kicks, his eyes closed as he faced the attack. A chilling thought suddenly arose within her.
"Could it be... that he didn't rely on his five senses? But rather... his cunning?"
The so-called "mind's eye" is not an actual eye, but a kind of perception-based ninjutsu that transcends the five senses.
Instead of relying on sight to see, hearing to hear, or touch to feel, one uses spirit and chakra to "perceive" all the energy flows, life force, air fluctuations, and even the slightest hostility and killing intent around them.
For example, Kagura's Mind's Eye from the Uzumaki clan.
The Kurama clan's genjutsu can manipulate the five senses and is even very effective against some sensory ninjutsu that rely on eye techniques and bloodline limits, but it is difficult to affect the Mind's Eye perception that does not rely on the five senses and eye techniques!
Neji was able to perfectly predict and neutralize Rock Lee's all-out attack after opening the Fourth Gate, even with his eyes closed. The only explanation for this, besides his solid foundation in Gentle Fist and combat experience, is that he has mastered this legendary "mind's eye" ability!