Chapter 254: The third stage of the exam

***

The third stage of the exam has begun. Shikamaru arrived just in time. Sasuke followed closely behind him. On this day, he should have a worthy battle, so he was in some tension.

Seven people entered the arena and faced a general cheer: Shino, Sasuke, Hinata, Naruto, Chōji, Temari, Kankurō. Dosu probably already died at the hands of Gaara, or maybe he just received Orochimaru's order and dropped out. Of course, it is possible that Orochi himself killed him. In any case, it doesn't matter at all. The figure of Dosu did not matter here.

Shikamaru looked at everything from the outside, as he did not really want to participate in this boring show. Although he liked the stadium, he looked around with curiosity and even spotted a few new faces. For example: Daimyo, a couple of Konoha elders, Kazekage and several clan heads.

"Not a bad bunch..." Noticing his father and mother in the crowd, Shikamaru smiled and casually waved at them. To which in response he received a satisfied nod from his father and a smile from his mother. They probably already knew about the possible attack, but Shikamaru wasn't going to say anything. Now all this will be redundant. In any case, Shikaku could take care of his wife himself. It will be important to face the Kazekage, Orochimaru and their people. The strength is not bad, especially for a weakened Konoha that has lost many strong Shinobi in the past. Certainly, if even one of the Sannin were here, or someone from the upper echelon of the Uchiha, things could have turned out differently. In the original history of the world, no one ever intervened in the battle. Even Jiraiya and Danzō were absent, allowing the Third to fall. In any case, Shikamaru did not rely on anyone, he had his own plan, which he followed.

In turn, Orochimaru apparently decided to do something and did not take the body of the Kazekage.

“And this is already interesting ...” - Shikamaru could easily determine by one glance at this man next to Hiruzen a person, though not weak, but certainly not Orochimaru. The snake itself could not be found nearby, probably hiding. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and chuckled a little. If everything didn’t go according to the fateful scenario, it’s even more fun. He just wanted to measure his strength with the Kazekage, that's the right chance. It wasn't that stupid of Orochimaru to leave a strong ally alive. He already knew that a very strong person in the person of Shikamaru was on the side of the village, so he also had to play it safe.

Genma had already begun to explain the ground rules. While Shikamaru looked at Gaara with a grin. He sat on the podium and displeasedly examined the past candidates. In that elimination bout, he didn't go along with Lee, so he was still very dissatisfied with the results. His head had already been treated, at least on the surface, Konoha's medics arrived in time. Even Kankurō was patched up for this fight, not bad at all. When the eyes of Shikamaru and Gaara met, the latter's face showed primordial fury, but he was still not stupid and did not rush into battle.

Finally, the moment of the first battle came. Naruto Uzumaki vs Hinata Hyuga!

"Wow..." Shikamaru's eyes flashed with interest, he smiled and watched. In the past, Naruto was supposed to fight Neji, but now, after the victory of Princess Hyuuga, everything turned into this interesting duel. So who knows how the fight will turn out this time. Still, without provocation, the jinchūriki may not reveal their hidden power.

“Ha… Haha, hello Hinata!” Naruto chuckled nervously as the stands quieted down.

The girl smiled sweetly and nodded without any embarrassment:

- Hey. Hope for a good fight.

“Ha ha, me too!” You did a good job Neji!

Hinata didn't answer, just smiled, and then cast a short glance in Shikamaru's direction, and with a determined gleam in her eyes, she immediately assumed a fighting stance.

- Byakugan! She immediately applied the technique and looked seriously at Naruto.

“Uh…” The boy stood up as well and swallowed nervously. He still had the scene of Neji getting beaten up in his mind.

- Come on, sister! Beat this fool! Hanabi called from the stands. Hiashi smiled a little and nodded as well, while Neji looked at the sky with a kind of apathetic expression and thought. More recently, he learned a lot ... It was difficult for him to digest the information. Moreover, the victory from Hinata also damaged his pride. He wouldn't worry about losing at the hands of a main branch ninja, but at the hands of a girl who used to be a complete weakling... This was a crushing blow to his pride and faith in his talent. Now he was thinking about his path in a completely different way.

Finally the fight began. Naruto summoned shadow clones and directed them towards Hinata. Following this, he rushed into battle himself.

"Reckless." Shikamaru shakes his head as he continues to watch. Rushing head-on at the Hyuuga representative wasn't the wisest idea, but at least Naruto using clones made up for it. But Hinata was fast enough, she was not going to expect an attack like others, she herself rushed forward and easily dealt with two copies using hard blows of her palms. In the next moment, the palm rushed towards Naruto's main body.

"How fast!"

He somehow managed to dodge, but at the same moment he clenched his teeth and grabbed his left hand. Hinata was able to damage one of his tank points.

The fight then continued in a rather one-sided style. Naruto dodged and tried to run away, quickly realizing that head-on with the Hyuuga representative wasn't the best idea, but Hinata didn't act like Neji could, she attacked furiously, not giving Naruto a chance. No provocations, no extra words! In this battle dance, the girl looked even more beautiful. Shikamaru even stared at her smooth movements and smiled contentedly. She acted quickly, decisively and strongly. No arrogance or excessive pride, only the strength of the eyes and palms. She plunged into her battle dance, giving Naruto no chance of success.

The jinchūriki could burst into anger like Neji would, but not this time. He did not fight with a dangerous enemy, which is why the bijuu chakra did not get out of control and with many important tanks succumbing to blocking, he could no longer summon clones, and then completely dropped out of the battle after receiving a direct blow to the stomach. Coughing, Naruto fell down and said with a bitter smile.

“I give up… Ha… You won.”

Tribunes announced applause, very soon the next battle began. At that time, Shikamaru greeted Hinata. After talking with her sister and exchanging a few words with her father, the girl approached the guy and smiled proudly.

"You did a good job," Shikamaru praised, gently touching Hinata's rosy cheek. She instantly broke into a happy smile and stood closer to the man. The members of the Hyuuga clan, led by Hiashi, who were watching from the sidelines, only looked at each other gloomily. Instead of choosing the side of the clan, she stayed with the stranger ... Sakura and Ino, on the contrary, looked at Hinata in surprise, and Temari did the same, narrowing her eyes:

"Oh, you're a womanizer," she muttered under her breath, getting Kankurō's attention. The boy just shook his head with a grin as he focused on the next battle.

Uchiha Sasuke vs Aburame Shino!