Prepared to Die!!

Kidōmaru's arrow tears deep into Neji, yet the Hyūga refuses to fold. He feeds a burst of chakra into the control thread tied to the shaft, sending it racing up the line until it locks Kidōmaru in place. Certain the effort was a dying man's last twitch, Kidōmaru tumbles down from his perch in the tree.

Drawing courage from how Naruto never let impossible odds break his resolve, Neji is waiting when his enemy hits the ground and lands the finishing strike. As the Sound ninja's strength drains away, Neji reveals the wound was deliberate: he had predicted the arrow would come from his blind spot, so taking the hit on his own terms let him steer it clear of anything lethal. Kidōmaru wonders aloud whether the gamble was worth it, and Neji says it was, counting the win and his aid to the Sasuke Recovery Team as reason enough to accept his grievous state and probable death.

Neji survives Kidōmaru's arrow and channels chakra through the guiding string to paralyse him at range. Kidōmaru falls, believing his foe finished, and Neji delivers a killing blow at ground level. Neji explains he took the wound on purpose to control where it struck, and declares his sacrifice worthwhile for helping the mission succeed.

The chapter sits within the Sasuke Recovery Mission arc and pays off Neji's earlier character growth, framing his willingness to die for his comrades as an echo of Naruto's influence on him.