Ino couldn't find the so-called 359-degree blind spot, but since her chakra reserves were abundant, she didn't bother pondering over it.
Neji, on the other hand, was struggling to maintain his Eight Trigrams: Rotation. Less than five minutes into the match, his chakra was nearly depleted.
The spectators grew increasingly silent.
Many, including Shikamaru and Choji, had heard about Ino's feat of taking on the Hidden Mist Trio single-handedly. However, since it was just hearsay and they hadn't witnessed it firsthand, they didn't have a concrete understanding of her strength. Ino often boasted about "fighting three of them alone," which only added to the ambiguity surrounding her true capabilities. Now, seeing her overwhelm Neji Hyuga with a barrage of ninja techniques, they finally gained a clearer picture of her prowess.
Her hand seals were swift, her chakra reserves vast, her techniques powerful, and her timing in battle far surpassed that of an ordinary ninja. Ino's artillery-style fighting once again redefined everyone's impression of her.
The Genin, including the two from Sunagakure besides Gaara, turned to their Jonin leaders and asked what they should do if they ever faced an enemy like her. The Jonin's answers were similar: either launch a fierce attack, risking injury to take her down, or run as far as possible. Those were the only two options.
Neji couldn't run. He had to fight!
Under Tenten's slightly worried gaze, he accelerated the forward momentum of his Eight Trigrams: Rotation.
He swayed to the left, deflecting two Wind Blades, then circled halfway to the right, crossing his hands to intercept an Earth Spear shooting from the side.
The Eight Trigrams: Rotation resembled a massive blue spinning top, charging rapidly toward Ino.
He was making one last desperate assault.
"You've lost."
Three Inos formed the same hand seals.
Three surging Water Dragons erupted from the ground, left, center, and right, firmly blocking the advancing Eight Trigrams: Rotation from three directions, like three dragons playing with a pearl.
The three Inos, using Old Man Kosuke's Water Dragon Bullet technique, held the final "Tiger" seal without releasing it. Each time the Water Dragons surged past the outer wall of the Eight Trigrams: Rotation, they absorbed a small portion of Neji's chakra.
Old Man Kosuke's chakra couldn't compare to the Second Hokage's, nor could it match Ino's, whose "Stamina" was as high as 8, rivaling Tsunade's. So, he focused on weakening his enemies. This technique of using the Water Dragon Bullet to absorb an opponent's chakra was his ingenious idea.
Neji's chakra was already running low. After maintaining the Eight Trigrams: Rotation for so long and now being drained by three Water Dragons, his chakra was rapidly depleting. Finally, a flaw appeared in his rotation, and the three Water Dragons surged in, intertwining and transforming into a whirlwind that lifted Neji high into the air. He spun for over ten seconds before being slammed heavily onto the ground.
Neji lay on the ground, coughing up blood repeatedly. His body was covered in wounds from the Water Dragons, with over thirty cuts crisscrossing his skin. Clenching his fists, he struggled for a long time but couldn't get up.
"Neji, that's enough." Might Guy, ever the caring teacher, worried that Ino might continue her assault, immediately stepped in front of his student without hesitation.
"I'm not done yet…" Neji's physical and mental energy were completely drained. His vision was blurred, and his chakra was nearly exhausted. At this point, even throwing a punch was a struggle, let alone performing the Eight Trigrams: Rotation.
Might Guy gently patted his shoulder. "It's alright. You've already proven yourself. You haven't betrayed the sweat you've poured into your training. It's only through failure that we achieve success."
Might Guy's motivational words didn't have much effect. Neji wanted to say something, but he was too exhausted and didn't even have the strength to speak.
The arena was quite quiet. Ino dispelled her Shadow Clone Technique. She wasn't surprised by the outcome. Neji's strength was undoubtedly at the level of a Chunin, but what about her? She was now a standard Special Jonin, and there was a significant gap between them.
Gaara's sand was nearly invincible during the Chunin Exams, but when facing Might Guy, with just a wave of his hand, the sand was shattered. The difference between Gaara and elite Jonin like Might Guy was obvious. The Sound Four also seemed strong, but even with four against two, activating their Cursed Seals and fighting desperately, they only barely managed to defeat Shiranui Genma and Raido Namiashi.
Excluding outliers like Naruto and Sasuke, the difference in strength between Chunin, Special Jonin, and Jonin was actually quite significant.
In just five short minutes, Ino had used over thirty ninja techniques, alternating between Water Release, Earth Release, and Wind Release.
Isn't it normal for a mage to keep their distance and defeat a shield-wielding warrior? After a while, she coughed and waved to the sidelines.
Hayate Gekko was momentarily stunned, then quickly ran over.
He looked around. The once smooth arena had been washed over three times by Water Release, Earth Release, Wind Release, and Eight Trigrams: Rotation. Now, the ground was full of potholes, making it nearly impossible to find a place to stand.
He was somewhat familiar with Ino and directly complained, "You've destroyed the arena like this. Are you planning to pay the compensation directly, or will you delay it?"
Ino exploded at the mention of money. Asking me to pay? Did I cause this? Don't slander me! She pointed at the large craters on the ground and started shifting the blame, "This was clearly caused by Neji's spinning technique."
Hayate coughed and reminded her, "Eight Trigrams: Rotation."
Ino pounded her right fist into her left palm, pretending to have a sudden realization, "Right, Eight Trigrams: Rotation! All this damage was caused by his Rotation."
She frantically shifted the blame, pointing at the walls, "We may be familiar, but you can't slander me. Look at these marks. They seem to be from my ninja techniques, but in reality, they were all deflected by Rotation! If you place a stone at your doorstep, and a child uses it to break Yugao's window, can you say you broke the glass?"
Hayate was speechless. Why bring up my girlfriend out of the blue? And why break her window? But after this explanation, it did seem somewhat reasonable.
After all, he was familiar with Ino. After hearing this window-breaking theory, he instinctively glanced toward Neji Hyuga.
Under Might Guy's passionate encouragement, the Hyuga Clan genius was trying to stand up. Hearing such shameless words, he was so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood and completely passed out.
Ino spread her hands and looked at Hayate, as if to say, "See? I know you're deliberately stalling, chatting with me here, just to give him a chance to stand up and concede gracefully. But I gave him the chance, and he couldn't take it!" Ino forcefully shifted the blame and managed to pin half the responsibility on Neji.
Adding to the blame she had already shifted from Temari, she now had two points of responsibility.
Ino stood in the pockmarked arena, waiting.
Hayate Gekko coughed forcefully, "Ahem—!"
Noticing that Might Guy was still standing in place, looking around as if waiting for the medical team's ninjas, he coughed again.
Finally, he had to remind him, "Guy, this is the preliminary round of the Chunin Exams!"
The ever-enthusiastic Guy suddenly realized that it was indeed inappropriate for him to be standing there.
He nodded, bowed, and then dashed back to the spectator seats like a gust of wind.
Hayate Gekko raised a hand and announced loudly, "Yamanaka Ino wins!"