Naruto: Reborn with the Template System

"Is she the sister of that little girl from earlier?"

Temari furrowed her brows, sizing up Hinata, whose facial features were nearly identical to Hanabi's. Her gaze lingered with a hint of doubt.

Without the sharpness and aggressive energy Hanabi displayed earlier, Temari instinctively looked down on Hinata. She saw no fire...no edge that marked a strong opponent.

But still... something about her calmness felt strange.

The two girls, both beautiful in their own ways, stood face to face in the center of the arena—Hinata in her calm, gentle posture, and Temari with her confident, battle-hardened stance. The clash of a storm and a quiet breeze.

From the viewing platform, Guts called out lazily, "Little girl with the fan! don't hold back."

He crossed his arms with a faint smirk, clearly using this match to test how far Hinata had progressed. If anything went wrong, he could intervene in an instant.

"Go, Onee-san!"

Hanabi cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted in support.

Hinata gave a soft nod. "Mm."

"Who the hell are you calling 'Little girl with the fan'!?"

Temari snapped, glaring up toward Guts.

But then she remembered exactly who she was yelling at and shrank back a little, her face twitching.

"Ahem... W-whatever."

"Alright," Gekkō Hayate cleared his throat and stepped back, sensing the incoming storm.

"Third match.. Hyūga Hinata vs. Temari—begin!"

"Then don't blame me for not going easy!" Temari declared, swinging her giant iron fan with practiced precision.

The wind howled to life.

"Great Sickle Weasel Technique!"

A massive wave of slicing wind burst out, crashing across the arena. The sheer scale of the jutsu covered almost the entire battlefield—brutal and indiscriminate.

All eyes shifted to Hinata, waiting to see how she would handle it.

Then Hinata also made her move.

A pale-blue stream of chakra erupted from Hinata's palms and expanded into a sphere as her body spun gracefully.

WHIRRRRR—BOOM!

Temari's gusts were sucked into the spiraling barrier of chakra and dispersed harmlessly around her. Her clothes barely rustled.

"Revolving Heaven!" Kakashi muttered under his breath, stunned.

Even behind his mask, his mouth hung open. "That's a secret Hyūga technique reserved for elites… How the hell are both those little girls using it!?"

Temari's eyes narrowed.

So, she really is Hanabi's sister after all.

She hadn't expected her opening move to be nullified so cleanly.

Before she could fully reassess, Hinata's hands moved again.

"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"

Her body shifted, chakra focused into her palm as she struck forward with precision. The resulting pressure shot toward Temari like a focused wave less flashy than Temari's gusts, but far more targeted.

Temari's instincts screamed.

With a snap, she revealed all three stars on her iron fan and countered with another jutsu.

"Wind Style: Wind Cutter Technique!"

Three sharp arcs of slicing wind roared forward, more focused and deadly than her previous attack.

A jōnin-level C-rank ninjutsu... few Genin could resist it.

In a wide-open arena like this, dodging it was almost impossible.

Hinata's Byakugan flared to life.

Her pupils dilated; her breathing slowed.

She observed the wind currents, pinpointing the weak link in the technique.

"Hinata! Defend with Revolving Heaven!"

Tenten and some of the other Genin called out in panic.

But Hinata didn't flinch.

"Right here."

She extended her arm forward and struck the air with pinpoint accuracy.

"Gentle Fist Style – Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"

The chakra-laced pressure hit the center of the incoming wind blades—

BOOM!

Like a snake striking its target's weak point, the air palm disrupted the technique completely.

Temari's eyes widened in disbelief before she felt it.

THWACK!

Hinata's follow-up palm strike blasted into her abdomen.

"Gah!"

Temari was thrown backward, her body spinning as she flew over a dozen meters and crashed into the arena wall.

Crack!

She slumped down, blood trickling from her lips.

The arena fell silent.

From the observation deck, Guts casually leaned forward and smirked.

"Well... that settles it, big fan girl."

Temari looked up, chest heaving from pain and exhaustion only to see Hinata already standing in front of her, calm and poised.

Her right palm hovered just five centimeters from Temari's chest, glowing faintly with chakra.

Temari grit her teeth, wiping the blood from her lips with the back of her glove. "…I lost."

Hayate nodded. "Winner: Hyūga Hinata."

"Temari… actually lost?" Kankuro muttered, brows furrowed.

To be honest, this result wasn't just unexpected, it was a problem. It would likely disrupt some parts of their plan.

Gaara's expression didn't change. He simply turned his head away, his gaze dark and indifferent.

---

On the viewing platform, Hinata quietly returned, brushing her hair back as she approached.

"Good job," Guts said casually, ruffling her head like a proud older brother.

Hinata blushed and ducked behind Kurenai shyly, peeking out with a tiny smile.

"Her progress is seriously over the top, don't you think?" Kakashi muttered, glancing sideways at Guts.

Both Hanabi and Hinata were improving at a ridiculous pace. Their growth rate was truly monstrous.

Of course, Kakashi wasn't aware of what would happen in the future. He didn't know that Naruto and Sasuke, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, would jump from Kage-level to Six Paths-tier in just three days.

That's the kind of madness you get… when you have cheat codes written into your destiny.

And now, thanks to Guts, Hinata and Hanabi had simply…received a lower version of that hacks.

---

The next match drew attention for an entirely different reason:

Tenten vs. Suigetsu.

The moment the match-up appeared, Guts already knew the outcome.

Sure enough, Tenten started strong with her Twin Rising Dragons, throwing wave after wave of precise hidden weapons.

She followed up with her Manipulated Tools: Heavenly Chain Disaster but all of them phased harmlessly through Suigetsu's liquid body.

"...Ugh," Guts sighed. "Like trying to stab a puddle."

Tenten didn't even get to finish her combo before Suigetsu retaliated with a single jutsu—Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique.

Bam!

She was blasted into the wall.

It was over in seconds.

"If it wasn't for her outfit, no one would even remember her name," Guts muttered.

Among the next-gen characters, Tenten definitely had the lowest sense of presence. Even as a weapon specialist, her skill with shuriken couldn't compare to someone like Uchiha Itachi.

---

The next match was more interesting.

Kankuro stepped up and managed to defeat one of Suigetsu's teammates with strategic puppet use. His style was weird, but effective.

A few other fights went the same way as the original timeline, with only minor deviations.

Then came a highlight:

Rock Lee vs. Gaara.

For the first time, the other Genin saw what the Eight Inner Gates could do.

Lee opened the Third Gate.

Muscles began tearing.

Then the Fourth.

Bones cracked and the strain visibly tore through him.

It wasn't enough.

While Lee's raw speed and strength shocked the audience, Gaara's absolute defense and Sand Coffin overwhelmed him. Even though Lee landed hits, the result was clear.

Needless to say, Guts could open the Seventh Gate without any problem. He didn't feel a thing.

Meanwhile, even Might Guy had to activate the Sixth Gate before the real strain kicked in.

Generally, a shinobi who's proficient in using the Eight Inner Gates shouldn't suffer major side effects from opening the Third Gate.

But Rock Lee wasn't there yet. His body couldn't fully handle it.

In the end, he still lost to Gaara.

But unlike the anime, the injuries weren't as extreme. Thanks to subtle intervention from the medics and possibly Guts influence, Lee wasn't crippled for life.

Still, his effort left an impression.

Even Might Guy, who normally praised youth with fiery passion, had to admit:

"Lee still has a long way to go before mastering the Eight Inner Gates properly…"

He sighed, placing a hand over his heart like he'd just watched a tearjerker movie.

"The flames of youth were bright... but the candle burned too fast!"

Guts folded his arms and grinned. "Your kid nearly broke every bone in his body trying to impress a redhead with a sand gourd. Sounds like your youth flames need a user manual."

Guy's eyes blazed. "Nonsense! Pain is the seasoning of youth!"

"You're cooking him alive at this point."

"No, no! He's just medium rare!" Might Guy clapped both hands together with sparkling tears.

"...You're insane," Guts muttered, rubbing his temple. "No wonder Lee turned out like this."

"Thank you!" Guy beamed, taking it as a compliment. "It means a lot coming from someone who trains little girls!"

Guts raised a brow. "Better than turning your students into glorified firecrackers."

The two locked eyes, and for a moment, the room seemed to tense.

Then they both cracked up, laughing like old friends who'd just survived another ridiculous chapter in their lives.

Even Kakashi sighed from the sidelines.

"Idiots, both of them... but dangerous idiots."

With the preliminaries over, the final lineup was now confirmed:

Hyūga Hanabi.

Hyūga Hinata.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Aburame Shino.

Suigetsu.

Kankuro.

Nara Shikamaru.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Gaara.

Nine shinobi each one stronger than the last.

The real battles were about to begin.

PS: So the power stones deal didn't work out… even after giving it multiple chances.

Maybe I'll try the next chapter for just 500 stones, or maybe take a break from all this for a while.

Also...

Only one chapter today since the 100-stone goal wasn't reached…

Feels like losing time, man... double the fumble.

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