In the Ninja Academy, Ren's class finally ushered in the final assessment for their first year of enrollment. The students in the entire class were excited about this assessment, eager to move in their seats. Even TenTen around Ren looked eager and motivated.
TenTen's actual combat target happened to be Rock Lee.
"Rock Lee, just you wait for me to beat you down today!" TenTen said to Rock Lee confidently.
"That's not necessarily true. TenTen, I will never go easy on you just because you're a girl! Don't underestimate my strength!" Rock Lee said with a serious face.
Immediately, Rock Lee's eyes turned to Ren, who was leisurely fiddling with a kunai. He said, "I'm afraid that of all the actual combat training today, the most notable one will be the match between Ren and Neji Hyuga? Ren, I heard that Neji Hyuga's strength is very unusual, and many people in the class are sure that he will become our top student this year."
"However," Rock Lee continued, changing his tone, "I think you are the strongest in our class!"
"Of course my brother is the strongest!" TenTen said firmly.
"Why do you think so much?" Ren smiled indifferently. "You'll know after a fight anyway."
The chaotic classroom suddenly became quiet. The homeroom teacher walked into the classroom and announced to the whole class, "Students, gather at the exercise field."
A total of 54 students all came to the exercise field. The teacher divided the two closest students into a group based on their performance in usual training sessions, for actual combat assessments. In the entire class, Ren and Neji Hyuga were the two who usually got the best grades, so they had long been grouped together.
"The assessment starts now. The person whose name I call will step forward. Inuzuka Kiba will fight Nishi Keiko..."
Two people walked out of the crowd and came to the center of the training ground respectively. After performing the battle seal, they began to fight. After a few moves, Nishi Keiko was defeated. After the teacher recorded their results, he began to announce the list for the next match.
"The next group, Rock Lee versus TenTen!"
TenTen and Rock Lee, who were called, also walked to the center of the training ground. The two of them were old opponents, having sparred countless times before. Soon, they began to fully display the results of their usual training. Between them, you came and went, attacking and defending. In the blink of an eye, dozens of exchanges had already taken place.
"Amazing..." There were exclamations from the surrounding crowd. They never imagined that these two people, who were inconspicuous in class on weekdays, were so powerful in taijutsu, and their strength was enough to put them in the top five in the class!
There was also a flash of admiration in the Chunin teacher's eyes, impressed by the strength of these two children. In the end, TenTen still relied on the substitution kunai given to her by Ren, which caught Rock Lee off guard, making him reveal his flaws, and thus securing her victory!
"In this test, TenTen wins!" The Chunin teacher announced the result. He also took a special look at TenTen, thinking to himself that the ninja tool this girl used just now was very unusual. Perhaps this matter should be reported to Lord Hokage.
"Yeah!" TenTen jumped up excitedly, ran to Ren's side, and said proudly, "Big brother! I won the competition just now!"
"Good performance," Ren nodded.
At this time, Rock Lee also came over. He was a little annoyed by his carelessness just now, but he was still convinced that he lost. "Congratulations, TenTen, but I will continue to work hard, and I will definitely defeat you in the next competition!" After he finished speaking, he looked at Ren again and said seriously, "Because my goal is to surpass Ren-kun!"
Ren smiled, "I'll wait and see."
The actual combat assessment continued one after another. Time passed slowly, and dusk arrived. This time, the actual combat assessment finally ushered in the last group of duels.
"In the final assessment, Neji Hyuga will play against Ren!"
Ren and Neji Hyuga stood up from the crowd and walked to the middle of the training ground respectively. At this time, the surrounding students who had already completed their assessments had already started to talk amongst themselves.
"Neji should be able to defeat him within three moves, right? He's a genius of the Hyuga clan!"
"I think it's the same. Neji has long been the top student of this year that we secretly identified. I heard that his strength is praised even by the elders of the Hyuga clan."
"Tsk tsk tsk, even if you lose to Neji, there's no shame."
TenTen and Rock Lee heard these voices, and they were very unconvinced. But they didn't say anything, because these people would soon realize they were dead wrong! Ren's strength was outrageously strong; even Teacher Guy called him a monster!
"Battle begins!"
After Ren and Neji Hyuga finished their confrontation, they both assumed a fighting posture.
"You are strong enough to be my opponent," Neji Hyuga said suddenly. "But in front of a genius like me, your ending is doomed to fail!" He had already noticed Ren's extraordinary strength. After Neji Hyuga opened his Byakugan, he had secretly observed the chakra flow in Ren's body. The amount of chakra was huge, far more than the amount of chakra they should have at their age.
"Good chuunibyo..." Ren rolled his eyes and complained helplessly in his heart. Neji, who had not yet been indoctrinated by the main family's ideology, was still a self-righteous middle-schooler full of hatred for the main family. Ren was too lazy to reason with him and said directly, "Bring it on!"
If you don't know what to say, then I'll use my strength to teach you a lesson!
"Byakugan, activate!" Neji Hyuga didn't hesitate at all. The moment the battle started, the blood vessel folds at his temples bulged, and he immediately activated his Byakugan.
There was another chatter around.
"Oh my god, that's the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan!"
"Looks great!"
"Neji activated his Byakugan from the very beginning. Does he want to finish this battle quickly?"
And this time, Neji Hyuga, in the middle of the training ground, had already rushed out towards Ren.
"Gentle Fist!" Neji Hyuga shouted loudly. Immediately, blue chakra was released from his palm, and the palm of his right hand moved towards Ren, attacking.
"The power is good, but the speed is still a bit off," Ren's eyes were indifferent, and he remained calm in the face of Neji's attack. With a dodge, he avoided the Gentle Fist attacking from the opposite side. He usually sparred against Might Guy's clone, so dealing with taijutsu of this level was no difficulty at all.
"Hehe, it's not that simple! You've fallen into my domain!" Neji Hyuga said with a smug look in his eyes.
"Eight Trigrams! Sixteen Palms!"
With a loud shout from Neji Hyuga, a Tai Chi pattern appeared at his feet. At this moment, the entire training ground had become his domain. Although he had only learned the Sixteen Palms of the Eight Trigrams Palms, he felt it was enough to deal with Ren. The elders of the clan had said that even a Jōnin couldn't resist this move against him!
"Eight Trigrams! Two Palms!"
And just as Neji Hyuga was full of pride, going to follow the posture he usually learned and trained in the clan, when all the sixteen palms were successfully struck on the opponent, he never imagined...
Before he could land his first palm, he was hindered.
Because... the opposing Ren moved!