Chapter 172: Binding the Interior

Hinata stepped back after the exchange, her face flushed.

"You've become so strong, Neji."

Only a year separated them. A simple feint had been enough to defeat her before she could answer, and his improvement over the past month had made the difference between them unmistakable.

"You aren't suited to being a shinobi," Neji said. "You don't have the resolve."

His words left her struggling for an answer. She was trying to change, however little he thought of the effort.

Watching her brought back everything Neji resented about the clan. Talent had not kept him from being born into the branch family. Hinata's hesitation had not cost her a place in the main house. The rules decided their positions before either could prove what they deserved.

For a while, Tonbo's training had given him other things to think about. Here, fate was waiting where he had left it.

"Neji," Hiashi said from beside the training ground. "Attend to your duties. Leave other matters alone."

Neji fell silent. The Caged Bird Seal already limited what he could say. There was little to gain by continuing. Hinata looked between them, unable to settle what she felt.

Hiashi had been surprised by the bout. He had not watched Neji demonstrate his strength for a month, and the boy's progress was extraordinary. His talent had always been exceptional, but talent alone did not explain the experience behind those movements.

Neji handled a fight more like an ordinary chūnin than a recently graduated genin. Hinata had not even forced him to use his full strength. At this stage, his missions should still have consisted largely of D-rank work, with little chance to fight enemy shinobi.

Even the clan's instruction did not explain so sharp a change. Hiashi considered what he knew of Might Guy, the jōnin chosen to lead Neji's team and a representative of Konoha's Strong Fist style. Was Guy's teaching really that effective?

Tenten's father examined the small device in her hand with evident pride.

"You improve so quickly. And now you've developed a tool of your own."

Military weapons had raised his family from its declining fortunes. He had begun with modest improvements to ordinary tools, built a thriving business in the Land of Fire, and more recently entered politics. Seeing his daughter work along the same path pleased him deeply.

Tenten was less satisfied. "Ninety meters per second. It's only useful at short or medium range against a shinobi."

She called it the Rapid Lasso. Weights on the ends of a line carried it around an opponent's arms or legs; when the line wrapped, the weighted hooks secured it. The launcher fit in her palm, with two openings at the front and a button that released the line.

The idea had come from an encounter in Tonbo's simulation. His guidance had sent her toward Amegakure's specialized ninja tools. She had asked her father to obtain a high-speed launcher from there so she could study it. A design with limited uses in its original form had supplied what she needed for her own.

Useful was not the same as finished. She wanted a launch speed of one hundred and ninety-five meters per second, and the present device could fire only once before reloading. Both limitations annoyed her.

Her father laughed. "One step at a time. You'll surpass me. Perhaps one day you'll make tools to rival the Sage of Six Paths' treasures, and our family will keep them as heirlooms."

"I want to become a kunoichi like Tsunade," Tenten said. "Making tools is something I enjoy. It isn't the whole dream."

His praise did not change that distinction. She could inherit her father's talent without wanting exactly the life he imagined for it.

Lee had finally put on the green jumpsuit Guy recommended. Once he began training in it, he discovered why his teacher liked it: it breathed well and let him move freely.

The improvement in his fighting had given him another ambition.

"Guy sensei, can we enter the Chūnin Exams in the second half of the year? I think we're strong enough now."

Guy considered the question and shook his head. "Not yet. You're still a long way from ready. Tomorrow I'll begin teaching the three of you my ultimate technique. Learn that first, then we'll consider the exams."

Combat ability was only part of what the examinations required. His students still had much to learn as shinobi. Even Neji's talent did not erase the problems in his character and judgment that life within the Hyūga had left him.

Lee's disappointment lasted only until he considered the promised lesson. "An ultimate technique? Like Tonbo sensei's ninjutsu?"

"More powerful than that. A technique for protecting someone important to you."

"Really?"

Guy answered with a broad smile. Lee looked ready to begin immediately.

Chains rose inside Sealed Horizon and closed upon the figure held within it. The restraint left no room for movement.

The Barrier Team confirmed the result before dismissing the Shadow Clones used in the test. Their cheers filled the room.

"Complete," one of them said.

Tonbo watched with considerable satisfaction. The work had occupied him for years. At last, the Third Hokage could no longer call the original assignment unfinished and send him back to refine it again.

Once the barrier was established, the shinobi maintaining it could direct their remaining chakra into binding an enemy inside. The restraint combined the strength of the active members. It had one important limitation: it could hold only one person.

That did not diminish the team's pleasure. They had accomplished what they set out to do.

Tonbo was pleased for them, and pleased to be leaving another post behind. He would have a little more time for his own work.