"Please be careful." Yuzuru Hyuga wore the same smile, yet he seemed utterly unhurried. He did not even assume the opening stance of the Gentle Fist. Instead, he took out two kunai, let Hyuga Katon see them clearly, and then casually tossed them.
The next moment, the two kunai shot forward with a whoosh.
"So fast!" a child cried out.
For an ordinary ninja, the throwing speed of those kunai would only have been considered passable and unremarkable. But considering Yuzuru Hyuga's age—
Hyuga Katon was somewhat surprised that his younger clansman already possessed Genin-level throwing speed, but he did not find it troublesome because of that.
He merely widened his Byakugan and raised his kunai, knocking both aside with two clangs. Yet in the next instant, Yuzuru Hyuga's speed startled him.
The instant he blocked the kunai, Yuzuru Hyuga had already rushed in front of him.
Abundant chakra shimmered over his fists in startling arcs, and every move of his unbroken Gentle Fist barrage carried a fierce whistling wind.
Watching this, Hyuga Hiashi could not help narrowing his eyes. "Hizashi, I never expected Yuzuru to have grown this strong already."
Little did he know that Hizashi Hyuga was equally surprised. He only knew that Yuzuru Hyuga trained incredibly hard, but he had no idea how strong he had become.
From his strength and agility alone, it was clear that Yuzuru Hyuga was displaying at least Genin-level combat ability.
And, if nothing unexpected happened—
Hizashi Hyuga's expression turned grave.
"Haah!" Hyuga Katon was growing frantic. He felt immense pressure from Yuzuru Hyuga. He was clearly only four years old, yet his strength and speed were even greater than his own. That was impossible!
Just as he steeled himself and began thinking about how to find an opening to counterattack amid Yuzuru Hyuga's assault—
"The winner has been decided!"
A fist broke through his unbroken barrage and stopped right before his face.
Yuzuru Hyuga smiled. "Thank you for going easy on me."
"The winner is Yuzuru Hyuga!" Hyuga Hiashi announced with a smile.
Applause and cheers for Yuzuru Hyuga rose from behind him, lingering on and on.
"Well fought, little Yuzuru!"
"A genius of the Branch House!"
"Yuzuru!"
Yet Yuzuru Hyuga did not leave. Instead, amid the cheers, he looked at Hyuga Hiashi and stood perfectly still.
He pushed up his black-framed glasses, smiling as he made a shocking request. "Lord Hiashi, could I... have another match?"
"There's something else I want to show everyone." He put on a respectful appearance, looking exceptionally eager. "Please."
The cheers and applause abruptly stopped. Even Hyuga Katon, who was frustrated and dejected by his defeat, could not help staring in astonishment at the opponent who had so easily beaten him.
A few hostile gazes fixed themselves upon Yuzuru Hyuga. Some Hyuga ninja of the Main House looked at him with complicated expressions, and faint mutterings of indignation could be heard.
They were probably saying that he had only beaten Hyuga Katon through luck, yet still refused to stop while he was ahead, that he did not know his place, and so on.
Hyuga Hiashi glanced at Hizashi Hyuga. Seeing that his younger brother remained silent, he revealed an interested yet slightly regretful smile. "Is that so? But the match schedule has already been set, so..."
"I want to spar with Senior Hyuga Shion."
Yuzuru Hyuga's words plunged the Hyuga Clan into an eerie silence.
He smiled, lightly stroking his glasses. Yet what he said left everyone unsure how to react.
"I want to see just how strong a Main House senior who has truly mastered Hyuga-style taijutsu and the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms can be."
"Please, Lord Hiashi."
As Hyuga Hiashi looked at Yuzuru Hyuga, for the first time, he saw a sharp edge beneath that gentle face.
A genius?
Hyuga Hiashi's feelings were complicated.
On one hand, it was a cause for celebration that the Hyuga Clan had produced a genius ninja who possessed at least Genin-level strength at only four years old.
The Uchiha Clan had produced many talents in recent years. While the Hyuga Clan had a considerable number of Jonin, it had no figure as renowned as Body Flicker Shisui, the Yellow Flash, the Three Ninja, or the Ino-Shika-Cho Trio.
But on the other hand, when such a genius appeared in the Branch House, it was destined that if he refused to settle for mediocrity, he would inevitably clash with the Main House.
This fool—if he wanted to learn these things, he could have asked Hizashi to explain them in private and secretly learned them. Why did he have to drag the conflict into the open so brazenly?
No matter what, he was his nephew, and the future head of the Hyuga Clan's Branch House. It would not have been impossible to bend a few rigid rules.
Hyuga Hiashi sighed inwardly. In some matters, Yuzuru Hyuga was still too young.
At that moment, Hizashi Hyuga suddenly spoke. "Yuzuru, Shion is a Chunin. In a few days, he may even be promoted to Jonin!"
"Don't let pride blind you!" he reprimanded Yuzuru Hyuga.
Hyuga Hiashi suddenly said, "Shion, what do you think?"
The ninja called Hyuga Shion merely stood among the crowd with an indifferent expression. A mature ninja tempered by war had long learned not to be easily swayed by emotion, but even so, Yuzuru Hyuga's identity still made him feel the anger of being provoked.
Calling me out by name—does he really believe he can beat me?
He stepped forward. His pale eyes briefly swept over Yuzuru Hyuga before he calmly said, "I will follow Lord Hiashi's orders."
"Lord Hiashi, in my opinion, let Shion fight him and knock down his arrogance." Hizashi Hyuga snorted coldly at Yuzuru Hyuga, looking very much like someone resentful of a child's failure to live up to expectations.
Hyuga Hiashi fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "In that case, we shall add another match for now. Shion, be careful not to injure him."
"Yes." Hyuga Shion looked calmly at Yuzuru Hyuga. Seeing the blue markings on his forehead, he gave a cold smile.
Even if you are Lord Hizashi's son, you must understand—
Even a genius cannot imagine the difference between the Main House and the Branch House!
Yuzuru Hyuga merely maintained his gentle smile and respectfully said, "Thank you, Lord Hiashi!"
He turned toward Hyuga Shion, his tone sincere. "Please fight me with everything you have!"
"Mm." Hyuga Shion raised his head. No emotion could be seen in his Byakugan as he silently lifted his hands.
In that case, I'll keep it simple and end this fight.
The power of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
The power of the Hyuga Main House will make you despair!
As everyone watched the sixteen-year-old youth stand opposite the four-year-old Yuzuru Hyuga, whose height only reached his opponent's waist, both forming the Seal of Confrontation with their hands—
Everyone could not help feeling that the scene was surreal. Was this really not just bullying a child?
"Begin!"
The moment the words fell, Hyuga Shion lowered his stance slightly. His Byakugan opened, veins bulging around his eyes as he shouted, "Eight Trigrams! Sixty-Four Palms!"
An invisible Eight Trigrams field seemed to spread beneath his feet, and every chakra point on Yuzuru Hyuga's body was laid bare in the Byakugan's vision.
Yet Yuzuru Hyuga still wore a smile as he assumed the opening stance of the ordinary Gentle Fist.
Secretly learning this so-called Main House secret taijutsu like Neji?
No need.
In his view, no matter how the Hyuga Clan's taijutsu was expanded upon, it was merely a chakra-based acupuncture technique built upon fist techniques and the Byakugan.
The greatest difficulty of the Sixty-Four Palms lay only in striking the corresponding chakra points in successive blows, along with that seemingly mysterious Eight Trigrams field.
But in the Byakugan's vision—the so-called field was merely the act of concentrating the Byakugan's sight on a small area spanning three hundred and sixty degrees, focusing one's attention on the chakra trajectories of enemies or living beings within it, then predicting and controlling an opponent's direction of movement.
To be honest, he had already figured out that application on his own while observing Itachi.
And learning the order and method for striking the chakra points was even simpler.
Experience it once personally.
Wouldn't that be enough to learn it?
Therefore—
"Haah!" Hyuga Shion shouted as he charged forward.
He extended only two fingers from each hand, striking fiercely toward Yuzuru Hyuga.
Yuzuru Hyuga neither dodged nor retreated. With veins bulging around his Byakugan, he merely began to defend himself.
"Eight Trigrams: Two Palms!"
"Eight Trigrams: Eight Palms!"
"Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms!"
"Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms!"
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"
The terrifying speed of the barrage left the children without the Byakugan utterly dazzled, unable to tell what those fists and palms, moving so quickly they left afterimages, were even doing.
But for the Hyuga ninja, who had all instinctively activated their Byakugan, everything happening in the arena made them hold their breath.
He blocked them!
Although this was Yuzuru Hyuga's first time facing the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, his extraordinary reaction speed, combined with his understanding and research of the human body's chakra points, still allowed him to distinguish the general direction of the sixty-four strikes the moment his opponent moved, determine the targeted chakra points, and predict and block them.
Sometimes with his palms, sometimes with his arms, sometimes with his shoulders—
Though by the end, half his body had been struck by the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, leaving his chakra flow stagnant, and he had been knocked back five or six meters while clutching the ground with one hand in a bedraggled state—
Yuzuru Hyuga still did not fall.
He slowly rose, his gaze seeming to contemplate something, to stare at something.
Hyuga Shion's expression was ugly. Though his Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms could not be called flawless, he had firmly grasped its basics and application. Yet he still could not knock down a four-year-old child?
That was far too humiliating!
The battle instincts he had honed on the battlefield told him that now was the chance to end the fight.
Even if you endured the Sixty-Four Palms, I have struck some of your chakra points. Your chakra cannot flow now. You're like half a wooden target.
What's the point of forcing yourself to stand?
Fall already! Branch House genius!
He leaped high into the air and brought down a vicious axe kick, with no intention of holding back.
Even if Yuzuru Hyuga might be seriously injured because of it.
"Rotation!"
A childish yet steady voice rang out.
Hyuga Shion's Byakugan widened in disbelief.
Impossible. His chakra should have—
No, did he just say... Rotation!?
"This is—!"
The calm vanished from Hyuga Hiashi's face as he stared in disbelief at the blue vortex that suddenly blossomed in the arena.
At the same time, whether Main House or Branch House, everyone lost their composure and cried out in alarm.
The immense blue vortex lasted for one or two seconds before vanishing. Hyuga Shion was sent flying in a somewhat disheveled state, twisting his body in midair, landing on one knee, then quickly rising.
"Who taught you Rotation!?" he shouted angrily.
Yuzuru Hyuga raised a hand and pushed up his glasses. "I taught myself."
"Bullshit! How could anyone learn Rotation through self-study? Besides, you're only—" Hyuga Shion could not bring himself to finish the words, you're only four years old.
But Yuzuru Hyuga merely smiled gently. "Senior Shion, the battle isn't over yet."
He walked forward. At a certain distance, he suddenly stopped, then spread open his palms. That opening stance was exactly the same as the one Hyuga Shion had used moments ago.
"Thank you for your instruction. Please take a look at what I learned from you, Senior."
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"
So, these secret techniques of the Hyuga Clan—
As long as one possessed the same Byakugan and basic knowledge of chakra points—
They really were very easy to learn!
"Eight Trigrams: Two Palms!"
Until Yuzuru Hyuga's hands struck before him, Hyuga Shion still believed that he was merely bluffing.
But when his chakra was instantly sealed, his entire body went limp, and he could no longer move—
He finally realized.
Yuzuru Hyuga—
He was not joking!
Before you continue