Victory!

"You'd better be careful!" Gai focused, tapping the ground with his foot. With a boom, the ground caved in beneath him. Using the momentum, he shot toward Yei like a bolt of lightning, fist clenched as he threw a punch!

"Good!" Gai's movements could not escape Yei's perception, but faced with such extreme speed, his body was having some trouble reacting in time.

Gai, with the Eight Gates Formation opened, was simply too fast!

This speed was not a technical, short-range burst like the Body Flicker Technique or Soru. It was pure physical speed—sustained speed!

Without hesitation, lightning crackled over Yei's body, stimulating his cells and enhancing his physical abilities so that he would not be unable to keep up with Gai's movements.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" He thrust his palm backhandedly, Chakra surging within it as it collided with Gai's fist!

With a boom, both of them retreated at the same time. Every step they took left a deep footprint in the ground!

In this clash, Gai was still slightly inferior, retreating several steps farther than Yei!

"You're strong, Yei!" Gai looked at Yei solemnly and shook out his right hand. After that collision, he could feel a faint ache in it!

"Again!" Yei smiled slightly and thrust out his palm once more. A Chakra blast shot toward Gai like a cannonball!

Although Gai did not possess sensory techniques, his five senses were exceptionally sharp, honed through years of training. Seeing the fierce wind approach, he twisted aside to evade it, then transformed into a green whirlwind and charged out again. "Leaf Whirlwind!"

With a bang, Chakra burst from the back of Yei's right hand, blocking Gai's sweeping kick.

As a member of the Hyuga Clan, Yei possessed exceptional flexibility. He twisted his body, Chakra coating his left hand as he struck down at Gai from an extremely tricky angle!

Bang!

Yet Gai blocked that deceptively angled strike with his right hand, and both men retreated one after another.

Then they charged forward again and collided!

The clash between the Steel Fist Style and the Gentle Fist was extremely dangerous—no, any contest of Taijutsu was extraordinarily dangerous!

Any casual strike from Gai could shatter the ground and send rocks flying, perfectly displaying the fierce strength of the Steel Fist Style!

Yei's attacks, meanwhile, were not as violently forceful as Gai's, but the subtle, silent Gentle Fist carried even deadlier killing intent. His strikes were as elusive as an antelope hanging its horns, their trajectories impossible to trace!

Another collision sent both of them back.

"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" Yei stepped back, lowered his body into the opening stance of the Gentle Fist, and fixed his Byakugan on Gai in the distance. Within a certain radius, an Eight Trigrams formation seemed to emerge!

"Not good!" Seeing Yei's stance, Gai inwardly cried out in alarm.

The Hyuga Clan's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms was a tremendous threat no matter where it was used.

If struck by it, the flow of Chakra within the body would be cut off.

Chakra could be said to be a ninja's source of power, their foundation. Without Chakra, one would practically lose all combat capability!

Without nearly any hesitation, Gai tried to pull back and leave Yei's range!

But how could Yei let Gai escape his attack range?

With a tap of his foot, Yei dashed out at great speed, his palms striking swiftly. "Eight Trigrams Twin Palms!"

"Ha!" As Yei rushed toward him, Gai knew he could not run out of Yei's range. In a short-distance burst of speed, Yei would not be much slower than him—he might even be faster!

Gritting his teeth, Gai stomped the ground with both feet. Rather than retreat, he chose to confront Yei head-on. Since he could not evade, he would block every attack!

He clenched both fists and collided with Yei's twin palms, producing a dull bang!

"Four palms!" Yei's attacks came in an unbroken downpour. "Six palms, eight palms, twelve palms... thirty-six palms..."

"I won't lose!" Gai roared, his own attacks just as swift as he received all of Yei's strikes!

A dense series of bang bang bang rang out. Centered on their collision, a blast of air swept outward, kicking up a sky full of dust!

"Sixty-two palms!" Yei's perception caught a flaw in Gai's defense. Chakra swelled in his twin palms as he knocked Gai's hands aside, leaving his chest wide open!

"Damn it!" Gai's expression did not change, but with his hands knocked away, his body stalled for an instant. He had no time at all to defend!

"It's over. The final strike—Sixty-Four Palms!" A sharp gleam flashed through Yei's eyes as his final and fiercest two palm strikes landed on Gai's chest. Chakra suddenly surged and erupted, becoming the most powerful attack of all!!

Boom!

A burst of Chakra seemed to explode from Gai's back, blasting his clothes apart. The immense impact made him grunt as he was sent flying like a cannonball. After flying dozens of meters, he slammed into the ground and left behind a crater!

Yei withdrew his palms and stood upright, brushing the dust from his body. Looking at Gai, who had already risen to his feet, he smiled. "You lost, Gai!"

Yei had held back at the end. Otherwise, the Chakra from that strike would not merely have burst through Gai's back—it would have damaged his internal organs!

That would not have been a mere light injury, but a serious wound, perhaps even fatal in a single blow!

After all, this was only a spar. Naturally, Yei could not strike too heavily!

Gai held his chest. Though the pain was intense, he was not seriously hurt, and he knew Yei had shown mercy at the end.

Looking at Yei, he admitted wholeheartedly, "I lost, Yei. You truly deserve to be called a genius of the Hyuga Clan. Your Eight Trigrams Palm seems somewhat different from the techniques used by the other members of the Hyuga Clan. Did you improve it yourself? In that final strike, I could even feel the fierce, overbearing power of the Steel Fist Style!"

Yei nodded. "More or less. This is the Eight Trigrams Palm I developed after improving it. I incorporated some of the Steel Fist Style's overbearing ferocity into it, though it still isn't complete. That was also why I wanted to spar with you this time—to see whether I could find an opportunity for a breakthrough."

If the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms used by the other members of the Hyuga Clan relied on striking acupoints, using precise Chakra control to block the flow of Chakra within an enemy's body—a relatively gentle method of attack—

Then Yei's Eight Trigrams Palm was a fierce, overbearing, and forceful assault. His goal was to shatter his enemy's acupoints and internal organs!

He had incorporated some of the Steel Fist Style's traits into it, giving it the Steel Fist Style's forcefulness, dominance, and ferocity!

Every attack was accompanied by swelling, erupting Chakra, carrying something of the feel of Tsunade's Super Strength Fist!

Tsunade's monstrous strength ultimately came down to precise Chakra control—concentrating Chakra at a single point and releasing it explosively, making her attacks far more destructive!

However, such precise Chakra usage could only be achieved by someone with exceptionally strong Chakra control!

As a member of the Hyuga Clan, Yei naturally did not lag far behind in Chakra control. He, too, could achieve roughly the same level!

Yei's Eight Trigrams Palm was vastly more lethal than that of the other clan members. It possessed the domineering ferocity of the Steel Fist Style as well as the precision and speed of the Gentle Fist, blending the traits of both Taijutsu styles into an attack method better suited to himself!

However, Yei had yet to fully perfect these improvements to the Eight Trigrams Palm. At present, he could not make every strike so sharp and powerful. Only with the final two palms did he unleash the kind of might he envisioned!

Yei always felt that something was still missing. It was probably because his grasp of the Steel Fist Style was not deep enough. After all, like the other Hyuga Clan members, his previous self had only studied the Gentle Fist...