Neji still refused to accept the fact that he had suffered such a major setback against a mere dog.
"Gentle Fist—Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Neji activated his technique and charged straight at Growlithe, completely ignoring Hinata.
He couldn't kill the heiress of the Hyuga Clan, but this wretched dog? No problem.
Fueled by rage, Neji moved even faster than before.
Growlithe opened its mouth and shot out a small flame—it was Ember, flying toward Neji at high speed.
Neji immediately covered his hands in chakra and slapped the fire away.
As a low-level fire move, Ember's power wasn't enough to pose a real threat.
At that moment, Growlithe's body flashed with a faint glow. It easily dodged Neji's next attack and then used Tackle again, knocking him back.
Neji swiftly attacked.
"Eight Palms!"
Growlithe dodged effortlessly.
"Sixteen Palms!"
"Thirty-Two Palms!"
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Neji unleashed his full technique in an instant, moving too fast for Growlithe to dodge. It was hit and sent flying, landing near Hinata.
Hinata, seeing Growlithe injured, became overwhelmed with worry. Tears welled up in her eyes.
Neji stood up, took a fighting stance, and said to Hinata, "Hinata, it's time for you to face your destiny!"
Up in the stands, Naruto was watching anxiously. "Hinata, hurry up and give the gem I gave you to Growlithe!"
Hinata was already flustered, but after hearing Naruto's words, she quickly took out the gem she had with her.
The moment Hinata pulled out the gem, the fiery red stone turned into a streak of light and flew toward Growlithe, merging into its body and disappearing.
As soon as the Fire Stone fused with Growlithe, it began to glow, signaling its evolution. The crowd could only vaguely see its body growing larger.
People in the stands started murmuring. "What's going on?"
"Why is this ninja dog glowing?"
The Third Hokage was also watching the evolving Growlithe in surprise. As someone with the title of "Ninja Professor," he had never seen anything like this before.
"Could it be some kind of new summon?" In the ninja world, summon beasts came in all shapes and forms.
"And it seems to be related to Naruto!" As he thought about it, the wrinkles on the Third Hokage's forehead deepened.
Growlithe's evolution soon completed, and standing in the arena now was a majestic giant dog—Arcanine!
Even indoors, its fur seemed to flow with the wind. The first thought that came to everyone's mind upon seeing it was—cool!
Arcanine fixed its sharp gaze on Neji and let out a powerful roar. Everyone immediately understood the meaning behind it.
"Come at me again!"
Neji, now more cautious, looked at the much larger Arcanine and said, "Even if you've grown bigger, I'll still defeat you!"
But Arcanine didn't wait for Neji to attack. It activated Extreme Speed and followed up with Flamethrower, a new move gained after evolving. The scorching flames surged toward Neji—not to burn him, but to trap him in place.
By this point, Arcanine's speed had already surpassed Neji's reaction limit. Even though he could see its movements, he simply couldn't keep up.
Growlithe's evolution into Arcanine wasn't just about getting bigger—it was a transformation in its very being.
Neji's vision suddenly darkened, but he didn't dare move.
Because in what felt like an instant, Arcanine had appeared right behind him and clamped its jaws around his head. His entire head was inside its mouth.
"I surrender!"
Even though it was humiliating, it was still better than getting his head bitten off by a dog.
As soon as Neji admitted defeat, Arcanine let go of his head and ran back to Hinata's side.
Neji, shaken to the core, didn't even look back as he walked straight out of the arena.
At that moment, Gekko Hayate stepped forward and announced, "Hinata wins!"
After all the matches were finished, the Hokage announced that the exhibition battles would take place in a month.
…
"You guys are cheating, aren't you?" Yang Tao glared at Zabuza and Haku, his face covered in tally marks.
It was their first time playing Landlord, yet Zabuza and Haku were winning almost every round!
And whenever Yang Tao was the landlord, unless he had an absolutely unbeatable hand, he was guaranteed to lose!
"This game is way too easy!" Haku explained with a smile.
For ninjas like Zabuza and Haku, remembering a deck of just a few dozen cards was effortless.
Once they memorized the cards, playing against Yang Tao was no different from playing with all the cards laid out in the open. As long as they weren't complete idiots, they could win every time!
Yang Tao's world could restrict their physical abilities and chakra, but it couldn't limit their observation skills and memory!
Running out of space on his face for more tally marks, Yang Tao threw his cards down in frustration. "I'm done! I'm not playing anymore!"
Seeing that the sky outside had cleared up, Yang Tao turned to the two of them and said, "Zabuza, Haku, come help me find the Holy Grail! More people means more strength!"
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