The spectators who had activated their Byakugan to observe the battle's details only then discovered a deeply terrifying fact:
Hinata's Chakra was no weaker than her father Hyuga Hiashi's. On the contrary, it exceeded Hiashi's Chakra several times over... In terms of Chakra volume, she could even rival the Fourth Hokage, or perhaps even the Third Hokage—those who bore the title of Hokage?!
But how old was Hinata...? She was not even eight yet... And more importantly, when she had fought Hizashi Hyuga of the branch family before, although she had already displayed an extraordinary amount of Chakra—
It had absolutely not been this much!
More importantly, Hinata possessed so much Chakra at such a young age.
Once she truly grew up and formally came of age—
The amount of Chakra in her body might reach the level of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju—enough to be called a sea of Chakra! There was even a slight chance that she could reach the immense Chakra reserves of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju!!
After the Main Family Elders recovered from their profound shock and considered this, ecstatic expressions appeared on their wrinkled, aged faces.
At that moment, the Main Family Elders were already imagining Hinata's future ten years from now, once she truly came of age—a future where her strength would rival that of a Kage.
She would be an existence capable of influencing the course of a ninja war through her individual strength.
—The new generation's Hyuga Celestial Ninja!!
Meanwhile, Hizashi Hyuga, standing among the branch family members, had also activated his Byakugan. When he saw the amount of Chakra within Hinata, dozens of times greater than that of an ordinary Jonin, he was slightly stunned:
Hinata had far more Chakra than when she fought me before.
It could even be said that she now had more than my elder brother, Hyuga Hiashi. Could Hinata really... possibly win?!
No, that was impossible...
The next instant, Hizashi Hyuga rejected the thought in his mind and made his judgment internally:
A battle between ninja could not be decided merely by comparing the amount of Chakra they possessed.
To truly determine victory or defeat, both sides' mentality in battle, the tactics they used, the number of ninjutsu they had mastered, their techniques... all of those factors had to be considered.
And as it happened, although his elder brother Hyuga Hiashi had never gone to the front lines and did not have extensive combat experience, his daily training was absolutely sufficient. He was far stronger than Hinata, who did not even come to the training grounds once every seven days.
Therefore, the victor of this battle would still be his elder brother, Hyuga Hiashi... Hinata was ultimately still too young, like a newborn bird that needed to be watched over, protected, and raised inside a cage.
At the center of the training grounds, Hyuga Hiashi had also noticed the abnormally vast amount of Chakra within Hinata. In that instant, he recalled how Hinata had once told him that she had other reasons for seeking out Roman, and was not simply looking for a man...
Could it be that Roman could somehow help others increase their Chakra?!
How could that be possible!
After all, Roman himself did not possess even the slightest bit of Chakra!
Then the rapid increase in Hinata's Chakra was... Orochimaru?!
Orochimaru had given up on kidnapping Hinata that day, but had used some kind of method on her body instead!!
Just like the cursed seal he had implanted in his disciple Mitaraishi Anko when he defected from the village?!
Thinking of this, Hyuga Hiashi said, "Hinata, the cursed seal Orochimaru placed on you must have side effects. Do not use Orochimaru's power anymore."
Upon hearing Hiashi's words, the Main Family Elders, and even Hizashi Hyuga, could not help revealing expressions of realization:
The Chakra inside Hinata could not have surged for no reason... If all of this was a method Orochimaru had used after Hinata was kidnapped to the Forest of Death, then it made sense!
He might be using Hinata's body for an experiment... perhaps researching a humanoid Tailed Beast project?!
Then the Main Family Elders thought of a dangerous possibility. Their expressions changed as they hurriedly said:
"Hinata, do not use Orochimaru's power anymore. It is dangerous!"
"Yes, exactly... If you use Orochimaru's power to amplify your Chakra, you will become Orochimaru's human test subject. You might even die!"
Orochimaru's power?
Dangerous?
Side effects?
Hearing those words, Hinata raised her head and glanced at her father and the Main Family Elders. The corner of her mouth twitched slightly as she thought to herself:
They really do have vivid imaginations!
They actually concluded that the abnormal increase in my Chakra was Orochimaru's doing!
Still... Orochimaru may already have discovered Jugo, begun researching Jugo's Sage body, and developed the power of cursed seals... He really is a very suitable scapegoat!
Fine!
Let's pin every abnormality about me, every bit of blame, on Orochimaru!
From here on, I just need to tacitly accept it.
After thinking this through, Hinata took a deep breath and said, "Father, Elders, I do not feel any discomfort from using it right now. Let us continue this battle."
"—And do not forget, once I win this fight, you must grant Roman and me true freedom!!"
The instant her words fell, Hinata shot forward like an arrow leaving the bowstring.
She closed the distance swiftly.
Seeing that his daughter still intended to fight, Hyuga Hiashi frowned deeply. He went all out, intending to end the battle as quickly as possible and prevent Hinata from suffering a backlash from Orochimaru's method.
Whoosh!
Hyuga Hiashi dashed forward. Raising both hands, Chakra light ignited around them as he unleashed an S-rank Nintaijutsu:
Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!
He struck at Hinata's meridian weak points, intending to cut off the flow of her Chakra!
However, Hinata also possessed the Byakugan and could see the attack... Furthermore, she had Nami of the Pirate World and the physique enhancement of a Super Pirate, making her movements extraordinarily fast as well.
Thus, she clenched her fists. In an instant, blue flames appeared around both fists, their appearance resembling lion heads and radiating immense majesty.
This was a secret technique of the Hyuga Clan:
Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists!
Bang!
Her palms, blazing with lion-head flames, blocked Hyuga Hiashi's first palm, second palm... third... fifth... tenth... all of them.
But that was not even the most important part. What mattered most was that Hyuga Hiashi discovered that the palms Hinata had blocked were beginning to ache faintly?
How was that possible!
How could Hinata's physical body be so strong?
—Was this also some mysterious method created by Orochimaru?!
At that moment, Hyuga Hiashi's gaze sharpened, and his palm strikes grew even faster.
Twenty... thirty... sixty-four...
Hyuga Hiashi's palms became afterimages as they struck at Hinata's major acupoints. Though Hinata's body was still small, she was extraordinarily agile, using the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists to block every attack!
And when Hyuga Hiashi threw his sixty-fifth palm, she unleashed an attack that was extremely similar to the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist—one that could even be said to shared the same origin!
Vacuum Attack!
Before you continue