Hokage, no one knows better than me how to cultivate talent.

Chapter 118 Little Li Who Never Gives Up

Although Sasuke has awakened the Sharingan and mastered a few decent ninjutsu, the gap between him and Hyuga Neji is still quite obvious.

Unless Sasuke can awaken the three-tomoe Sharingan or learn the Lightning Breathing Technique, it will be almost impossible for him to defeat Neji.

"However," Qiushui paused for a moment, "Sasuke is a year younger than Neji. I think if they were the same age, their strength should be about the same."

Shui Mu was already somewhat dissatisfied with Qiu Shui's indifferent tone just now.

Hearing this now, I feel that the other person is unwilling to acknowledge Neji's excellence.

He's seen Uchiha Sasuke's combat performance at school before.

Although he can be considered a rare genius, he can never be compared to Hyuga Neji.

Don't even mention that they are the same age.

Even though Sasuke was a year older than Neji, Mizuki firmly believed that he could not possibly be Neji's match.

"Bang!"

Another muffled thud came from the field, even more so than before.

Lee was knocked to the ground by Neji's palm strike for the fifth time.

Neji Hyuga stood still and did not continue the pursuit.

He lowered his arms and calmly looked down at Xiao Li on the ground.

He believed that Xiao Li would definitely not be able to stand up again this time.

"The winner..."

"I...I haven't lost yet..."

"7

Shui Mu had only spoken halfway when Xiao Li's voice came from the ground.

To everyone's astonishment, he braced himself against the ground and shakily stood up again.

He looked like a withered tree that could be blown down by the wind at any moment. His legs trembled slightly, his face was covered in bruises, and there was a scrape next to his nose from which thin beads of blood were seeping out.

"Lee, you can't beat Neji, just admit defeat!" Tenten called out with a worried look as she looked at Lee, who was covered in bruises.

"Xiao Li, your performance this time has far exceeded your usual level. There's no point in continuing," Shui Mu advised.

"No." Lee raised his head, his gaze fixed on Neji in front of him. "In my youth... there was no such word as 'admitting defeat'."

He took another step and charged towards Neji.

Hyuga Neji frowned slightly as he looked at Lee, who was charging towards him with openings all over his body.

Neji raised his foot again and delivered a clean and decisive kick, knocking Lee to the ground.

This time, he was certain that Xiao Li would never be able to stand up again.

Mizuki took a deep breath, preparing to announce the outcome of the battle.

"I... can still fight."

Xiao Li's voice rang out again.

Mizuki's lips twitched slightly.

He felt that Xiao Li really couldn't understand good or bad words.

Is this person only single-minded?

Hyuga Neji was also aroused by Lee's almost obsessive persistence.

Although his face remained expressionless, his eyes clearly turned cold.

He had already held back, and hadn't even used half of his strength, let alone his full power.

Why insist on this?

Don't you know that it's pointless for someone like you to keep going like this?

Since you can't distinguish reality.

Then let me help you face reality.

Hyuga Neji assumed the starting stance of Gentle Fist, his eyes sharpened, and his figure flashed out like lightning.

With a flurry of palms, he unleashed sixteen consecutive palm strikes at Xiao Li.

After a series of smooth combos, Xiao Li's body fell straight to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

This time, he didn't get up and shout "I haven't lost yet."

Because he had completely lost consciousness.

After Mizuki announced Neji's victory, several staff members quickly stepped forward, swiftly lifted Lee onto a stretcher, and ran to Konoha Hospital.

Beside the examination hall, the students stared in silence for a moment as the stretcher was carried away.

"Actually..." Maruyama Tomoaki spoke first, his expression complex as he sighed, "I used to think that Lee was a useless person, especially after he wore that green bodysuit these past two months, I thought he was a weirdo. But after this, I think he still has some redeeming qualities. At least his spirit of persisting even when he knows he can't win is something I can't do."

"Although I feel you have a point," another student shook his head, "I think Lee is too stupid. Since he clearly felt he couldn't win, he should have just admitted defeat. There's nothing shameful about admitting defeat to Neji, and he could have suffered less injury and wouldn't be in this state now."

The next practical exam.

Qiu Shui's guess came true.

Tian Tian actually got a bye again.

This time, the other students were completely numb.

Finally, the battle for first place in the class unfolded between Tenten and Hyuga Neji.

As soon as the competition started, Tian Tian quickly widened the gap.

It's unclear whether it was out of anger that Neji had gone too far with Lee, or if that was simply her fighting style.

With a flurry of movements, she unleashed a barrage of swords at Neji, their cold light flashing and their sheer numbers dense.

However, none of them hit the target.

Neji didn't even move a step; he simply raised his hands and slowly deflected and knocked away the incoming shuriken one by one.

Tenten knew perfectly well that she was no match for Neji.

Moreover, she didn't have the same reckless courage as Xiao Li.

And she is also very afraid of pain.

So, after the ninja tool throwing came to an end, Tenten simply raised her hands and chose to admit defeat.

After watching Neji and Tenten fight, Shusui noticed that Tenten could only use the most basic ninja tools to throw, and had not yet taken out ninjutsu scrolls from her body and released a barrage of various ninja tools like she would later.

Qiu Shui thought about it carefully and remembered that Tian Tian hadn't found a suitable path for herself when she first became a member of Kai's team after graduation.

All that is known is that she has a strong spatial talent, but it is not clear when she mastered it or who guided her.

After the practical exam, Qiu Shui turned and headed to the exam room of Class 1, Grade 4.

"Shusui-sensei!" Naruto spotted Shusui and immediately ran over like a gust of wind, his face full of excitement.

He hadn't seen Teacher Qiushui for three days in a row and missed her terribly.

"Shusui-sensei." Hinata followed closely behind, her hands unconsciously clasped together in front of her.

"Shusui-sensei, I got first place in the class this time!" Naruto raised his chin slightly, his face practically screaming "Praise me!"

"Naruto, well done." Shusui smiled gently and reached out to ruffle his slightly prickly blond hair.

Although he didn't witness Naruto and Sasuke's battle firsthand, Naruto's achievement of ranking first in the class was entirely within his expectations.

Sasuke doesn't currently have any techniques that can attack across a wide area.

Even if Naruto didn't use Wind Release ninjutsu, just throwing kunai at Sasuke with the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique would be enough to keep Sasuke busy and overwhelmed.

"When I was proctoring the fifth-grade class 1 exam," Qiu Shui's smile faded, "Little Lee faced off against Neji and was knocked unconscious. He's already been taken to Konoha Hospital, and I was just about to go see him. Do you want to come along?"

"Let's go right away!" Naruto immediately agreed, his smile replaced by worry, his brows furrowing tightly. "Is Rock Lee badly injured?"

His relationship with Xiao Li improved dramatically after this period of training, especially after the time when Xiao Li risked being punished by Qiu Shui to share his food with him.

Hearing that Lee had been beaten and hospitalized, Naruto was very worried.

Hinata nodded slightly, her fingers clenching the hem of her clothes.

When she heard that Lee had been injured by Neji's cousin, she couldn't help but worry about the extent of his injuries.

After all, she and Neji had clashed countless times within their clans, and she knew better than anyone how heavy his blows were.

It was a ruthless, almost cold-blooded, precision strike.

Hinata's thoughts involuntarily drifted back to a battle she had with Neji's cousin two years ago.

At that point, she was completely powerless to fight back, her body swaying precariously, but for some reason, Neji's cousin did not stop, instead attacking her even more frantically.

She still remembers the feeling of the air being torn apart when that attack came.

If her father hadn't activated the Caged Bird Seal on her forehead in time, she would definitely have been seriously injured by Neji's attack.

"Where's Sasuke?" Shusui glanced around. "I don't see him. Isn't he with you?"

"Sasuke is in the hospital too," Naruto said. "Hinata and I were just about to go see him."

"Naruto." Shusui frowned slightly, her tone becoming more serious. "Being first in the class is important, but Sasuke is your partner. Even if it's to win, you can't go too far."

Although Naruto has a sunny personality, he is afraid that Naruto's desire to be number one will cause him to abandon what is truly precious.

"Ouch!" Naruto slapped his thigh, crying out with a wronged expression, "I didn't do it! Hinata did it!"

"Hinata?" A look of obvious confusion appeared on Shusui's face as he turned his gaze to Hinata.

"Shusui-sensei... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Hinata's face showed a hint of embarrassment, and she lowered her head slightly.

Shusui acknowledged that Hinata had grown a lot after the incident with Gouda Takeshi, and her whole demeanor was quite different from before.

But logically speaking, she shouldn't be a match for Sasuke, right?

"Could it be that Hinata has mastered the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, or perhaps she has learned Water Breathing?"

Thinking of this, Qiushui immediately gave Hinata a quality check.

I discovered that her Gentle Fist Bagua Palm still showed 32 palms, and her proficiency in Water Breathing Technique was still zero.

Before Qiu Shui could ask any further questions...

On the way to Konoha Hospital, Naruto walked beside Shusui, vividly recreating the scene, gesturing wildly and unable to stop.

"Shusui-sensei, you didn't see Hinata and Sasuke's fight!" Naruto's eyes widened, his words flying. "As soon as the match started, Hinata rushed in front of Sasuke in the blink of an eye, and 'slap slap slap!' Sasuke was stunned in just a few moves, and then a series of 'slap slap slap's' followed, knocking Sasuke to the ground. Sasuke didn't even have time to react!"