Chapter 68: Who Will Be First?

"Might Guy, do you remember me? You're indeed strong, but since you've run into me here, your journey ends now." Hyuga Homon formed the Seal of Confrontation, speaking with a hint of pity.

Though Might Guy had the strength of second place, encountering the top-ranked student meant he could only fall in the second round.

"Uh... who are you?" Might Guy scratched his head, straining to recall his opponent, but found he couldn't remember at all.

"Could you be Hyuga Daimon?" Might Guy vaguely recalled the proctor's earlier announcement.

His fist clenched—hard.

Hyuga Homon felt as if Might Guy was mocking him.

"I'm the one who beat you last exam—Hyuga Homon! Homon, not Daimon!" Hyuga Homon couldn't help correcting him, vowing to teach Might Guy a lesson during the fight.

"Got it." Might Guy formed the Seal of Confrontation and nodded.

"Begin the exam!"

The moment the proctor finished speaking, Hyuga Homon activated his Byakugan, veins bulging around his eyes, giving his face a slightly fierce look.

With the Byakugan's aid, Hyuga Homon saw through everything about Might Guy—his meridians, tenketsu (pressure points), and the chakra flowing within.

Without hesitation, Hyuga Homon chose to concentrate chakra in his palm and attack.

Armed with the Gentle Fist and the Byakugan, two close-combat assets, Hyuga Homon believed no one at the Ninja Academy could surpass him in hand-to-hand combat.

The Byakugan allowed him to see through an opponent's movements, and with the Gentle Fist, he could drive chakra into their tenketsu, disrupting chakra flow.

But something unexpected happened: Hyuga Homon's punch, aimed at Might Guy, was instantly caught and held.

Hyuga Homon's other hand struck toward Might Guy's meridians and tenketsu, but it, too, was seized.

Hyuga Homon swiftly switched to kicks, but kicking was Might Guy's specialty; Might Guy released Hyuga Homon's hands and delivered a blazing fast spinning kick, sending Hyuga Homon staggering back three meters.

"Impossible—I saw through it clearly, but my body..." Hyuga Homon's hands trembled as he stared at Might Guy in disbelief.

He had completely read Might Guy's movements, yet his body couldn't react in time.

This was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation.

"Hyuga Homon is losing a taijutsu exchange!" The watching students were stunned.

Ever since Kakashi graduated, Hyuga Homon had dominated their grade; everyone who tried to challenge him in taijutsu had paid a painful price.

"Is Might Guy this fierce? Last time he got second in the year; now he's going for first?"

Might Guy's ferocious performance immediately drew gasps of astonishment from many.

"Come on, Might Guy!" When Ikeya Yuu saw Might Guy suppressing the previous top-ranked student Hyuga Homon, he couldn't help cheering him on.

He could almost see a thick stack of prize money waving at him.

"Ahem, Ikeya-sensei, you're the proctor for this exam. Please mind yourself." The proctor beside him lowered his voice to remind Ikeya Yuu, who was getting excited.

Ikeya Yuu snapped back to reality and quickly shut his mouth, but the smile on his face refused to disappear.

"Although Might Guy has the upper hand, the outcome is still uncertain. If he gets hit by the Gentle Fist even once, his attacking rhythm will be completely destroyed," one teacher commented.

Some of the other teachers nodded in agreement.

If Hyuga Homon made a mistake, he'd just feel some pain; but if Might Guy got struck by the Gentle Fist, it would be serious—having charka forced into his body was no joke.

In other words, Hyuga Homon had many chances to err, while Might Guy risked defeat with a single mistake.

Ikeya Yuu glanced over and saw it was Hyuga Homon's homeroom teacher who had spoken.

He didn't argue—after all, Hyuga Homon had taken first place so many times that Ikeya Yuu didn't feel confident enough to rebut.

What happened next defied many people's expectations.

Hyuga Homon launched several fierce attacks on Might Guy but failed to land a single blow; instead, Might Guy seized an opening and kicked him again.

"Man, if you cover your eyes, you'd think Might Guy was the one with the Byakugan." The students were impressed by Might Guy.

Before, it was always Hyuga Homon who read his opponent's movements and dodged effortlessly; now the roles were completely reversed.

"You only see Guy's current footwork; you don't know what he went through to get here." Hearing the students' chatter, Obito couldn't help recalling his and Might Guy's miserable ordeal.

Get hit once, and you have to do two extra problems; the battle starts with dozens of problems already assigned, and you have to hit the opponent without being hit to reduce the count.

It was precisely such terrifying training that created Might Guy's current movement technique.

Obito still hasn't quite finished the questions from the earlier phased exam.

"Damn it, what's going on?" Hyuga Homon, who had been at a disadvantage, grew anxious.

He didn't understand why it had come to this. Last time they fought, Might Guy wasn't this strong. How had his strength increased so much in just two months?

Anxious to turn the tide, Hyuga Homon exposed even more openings.

Might Guy concentrated chakra into his leg and erupted, seizing the opening to quickly kick with his current best technique.

"Leaf Hurricane!"

Bang!

The leg, strengthened by chakra and spinning at high speed, viciously slammed into Hyuga Homon, directly kicking him to the ground, unable to get up, losing combat ability.

"Candidate No. 4, Might Guy, wins!" the proctor announced Might Guy's victory.

All the scoring proctors gave Might Guy a perfect ten in taijutsu.

Hyuga Homon's taijutsu score was given a 9.9, but the teachers knew the difference between the two was more than that 0.1 point.

"Might Guy really had a tough fight against Hyuga Homon. Good thing he wasn't hit by the Gentle Fist even once, otherwise it would have been bad." Iketani Isamu said with a smile, already sensing the scent of a bonus.

Hyuga Homon's homeroom teacher opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

"It looks like the first place this time is Might Guy. Even Hyuga Homon was defeated by him." The watching students felt that the top spot for this year's exam had already been decided.

"Not necessarily. Uchiha Obito's Fire Release ninjutsu is very strong. No matter how strong Might Guy's taijutsu is, can he really withstand Fire Release at this stage?" Uchiha Tekka couldn't help retorting.

He had lost to Obito again in this class's practical battle, so he hoped Obito could take first place.

Soon, Obito also proved with his combat strength that Uchiha Tekka's words were not empty.

Shiranui Genma, the first of Class 6, was easily taken down by Obito.

His powerful Fire Release and impressive taijutsu directly made Obito replace the already defeated Hyuga Homon as a strong contender for first place.

If he didn't have to proctor and score, Iketani Isamu would have already dragged Muyue to an izakaya for a drink.

With these two students in hand, how could he worry about not having a bonus, or about it not being big enough?