Shadow of Hyuga

Recently, a major event occurred in the Hyuga family, which had been as still as stagnant water.

Hyuga Ao of the Branch Family was accepted as Hyuga Hayato's personal disciple, and Hyuga Hiashi's engagement had also been finalized.

Countless Branch Family members with marriageable daughters were left beating their chests in frustration, frantically trying to find out where Hyuga Ao had come from.

At that moment, Hyuga Ao was practicing a set of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

"One palm, two palms, four palms, eight palms... Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

The wooden dummy in front of Hyuga Ao was pinned in place by her final palm.

The surrounding elders all crowded over, using their Byakugan and their hands to inspect the marks on the wooden dummy.

The wooden dummy passed from hand to hand among the elders.

After a long while.

The Fourth Elder of the Main Family, who was responsible for the Branch Family's specific affairs, sighed in admiration:

"The points of impact were accurate, and the force was precise. Every one of the sixty-four palms was executed perfectly, without a single unnecessary movement."

"It was as though the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms had been meant to be performed this way from birth. Perfect, simply perfect!"

The Second Elder of the Main Family, who was responsible for transmitting techniques, also praised her:

"That is not all. As you moved and shifted your body and alternated between your fingers and palms during those sixty-four strikes, you also revealed a subtle sense of control. That is precisely what our Hyuga needs in a Kage Level expert. At such a young age, your potential is limitless!"

Afterward, the elders gathered again to discuss the matter. Finally, the First Elder stepped out from the crowd and said to Hyuga Hayato:

"Clan Head, you truly showed great insight this time. We are completely convinced. The Hyuga does indeed need a Shadow to awe the petty schemers. We, the Elder Council, agree to this matter."

He then said to Hyuga Ao:

"Hyuga Ao of the Branch Family, we elders promise you this: if you truly become the Kage Level expert our Hyuga family has lacked for many years, then although you are of the Branch Family, you will in truth be of the Main Family."

After all the elders had left.

Hyuga Ao still felt as though everything had been unreal.

She had originally thought she was merely a tool sent to build a relationship with Kushina, someone who would gain some resources, though not very many.

Becoming the clan head's disciple should have been merely a title. The real purpose was to have her marry Hyuga Hiashi, so that she could use her identity as the clan head's wife to build a connection with Kushina and thereby get close to the next Hokage.

What Hyuga Ao valued most was the promise that the Caged Bird would not be applied to her. Although that could not completely protect her, having those words spoken would make things much easier.

But judging from today's situation, was the Main Family serious?

And what was going on?

Were these Main Family elders really so easy to deal with?

Wasn't it said that the elders existed to seize power and balance the clan head? Why hadn't any of them even objected?

The gap between reality and her expectations was far too great. Hyuga Ao was genuinely shocked. She had thought she would be a Neji, but who would have expected her to become a Hizashi?

Hyuga Hayato beckoned Hyuga Ao over.

After Hyuga Ao walked over, Hyuga Hayato asked:

"Are you wondering why the Main Family is taking this disciple acceptance ceremony so seriously?"

Hyuga Ao nodded.

"That is because the Hyuga truly needs a Kage Level expert right now. War is not far away. That is the consensus among all the higher-ups in Konoha."

Hyuga Hayato paused.

"And once that war begins, it will certainly be extremely brutal. Everyone has spent so long recuperating, and none of them are content to remain as they are."

"After the war, everything will need to be rebuilt. Only with a Kage Level expert can one pursue the seat of Hokage."

"Moreover, a single Kage Level expert can guarantee the family fifty years of peace. So what I told you yesterday was not a lie. The Hyuga family needs you, Ao'er!"

When she heard that final sentence, Hyuga Ao suddenly understood.

So that was how it was.

Everything today had been done to make Hyuga Ao submit willingly and feel valued, because she truly possessed that kind of talent.

That was why, all along the way, these people had been instilling in Hyuga Ao the idea that the Caged Bird was unimportant and that they all regarded her as a member of the Main Family.

This reminded Hyuga Ao of the TV anime she had watched in her previous life. When Hyuga Neji had been immobilized by an Earth Release technique from Iwagakure, and the Iwagakure ninja mocked him for being of the Branch Family, he had said:

"At least, at this moment, I am standing here by my own will!"

Coincidentally, after he finished saying that, Hyuga Hiashi had rushed out and saved Neji.

The conflict between Hyuga Ao and the Main Family had nothing to do with anything else. It was entirely about the Caged Bird.

So long as the Caged Bird was not removed, everything else was empty talk.

The elders' regard, the clan head's acceptance of a disciple, and the provision of resources were all meant to make her sincerely risk her life for the Main Family.

So all of this was empty talk. After thinking it through, Hyuga Ao decided to follow the words of a great man.

Eat the sugar coating and fire the cannonball back!

Although she had thought through quite a lot, not much time had actually passed.

After deciding on her response, Hyuga Ao put on an expression of being deeply moved and thoroughly convinced.

Her brief bewilderment earlier was taken by Hyuga Hayato as the shock she had suffered from everything that happened today.

Seeing Hyuga Ao's expression, Hyuga Hayato nodded in satisfaction.

He began the first lesson after accepting her as a disciple—what it meant to be the Shadow of Hyuga!

First, it was necessary to explain what exactly a Kage Level expert was. Here, one could apply a concept from Mobile Suit Gundam.

The ACEs in Gundam battles, in other words, the aces, were divided into close-combat aces and artillery-combat aces.

The most representative artillery-combat ace was Kira Yamato. With the Meteor System, one full salvo could directly clear the enemies from an entire section of the battlefield.

The close-combat ace was Athrun Zala. One burst of 2887 was comparable to Emperor Kai opening the Eight Inner Gates. What a close-combat ace needed was powerful single-point breakthrough ability, along with the ability to suppress other artillery-combat aces and prevent them from inflicting massive casualties on one's own cannon fodder.

A Kage Level expert in the ninja world was equivalent to an ace in a mecha battle. They either possessed powerful area-of-effect damage or powerful point-breakthrough ability.

The former were like the successive Sand Shadows, while the latter was like Hatake Sakumo.

The Kage Level experts of the Hyuga family belonged to the category of individual Shadows, or more precisely, Taijutsu Shadows.

But Taijutsu Shadows had to be further divided, just like the representative of Taijutsu Shadows, Emperor Kai.

Might Guy was usually only an Elite Jonin. After opening the Eight Inner Gates, his physical abilities were massively enhanced, allowing him to be considered a Shadow.

Moreover, the more gates he opened, the stronger he became. After opening the sixth or seventh gate, even Kisame Hoshigaki without using his trump card had no way to deal with him.

If a Steel Fist Shadow possessed powerful physical destructive ability.

Then a Gentle Fist Shadow leaned toward control. They were no longer focused solely on the physical body, but instead contemplated the relationship between people and heaven and earth, and the connections between all things.

Simply put, it was a domain.

The standard for a Gentle Fist Shadow was a domain.

After countless collisions between one's body and other chakra ninjutsu, and between one's own chakra and other chakra.

Amid those collisions of chakra and flesh, one had to comprehend what a field was.

Then one had to observe nature and rely on one's profound mastery of fist techniques to understand and control one's surroundings.

This was reflected in the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

When performing the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, the first four palms were for control. The final sixty palms were the true test of skill.

Why were the final sixty palms said to test one's skill? Because they required speed and accuracy, followed by natural execution. The moment one palm was struck, one had to know where the next palm would land.

That was why Hinata had only been able to perform thirty-two palms at the beginning of her story. She had not achieved control over herself or over the Gentle Fist.

Control over oneself meant knowing exactly where each palm should strike, how one's feet should move, how the opponent would react, and where to strike after the opponent reacted. All of it had to be clear in one's mind.

That was control over tangible things. A domain, meanwhile, required control over intangible things.

Through chakra, aura, Byakugan Dojutsu Power, Spiritual Power, and the omnipresent Natural Chakra, one spread them through the air and mixed them into a field. That field was a domain.

These were all things that could only be understood but not explained. The Hyuga family's records had been damaged for various reasons, while the knowledge passed down by word of mouth had been lost after Hyuga Tenin's departure.

That was why the Hyuga had fallen into such an awkward predicament.

They could only explore the realm of Shadows through the scattered words left by their predecessors.

Therefore, they needed a young genius who could rapidly cultivate the Gentle Fist to a profound level and, after mastering the Gentle Fist, explore the path to becoming a Shadow while still young.

That was why, in their eyes, Hyuga Ao was a rare Hyuga genius and, even more importantly, a trailblazer.

Hyuga Ao returned to her new home with a large stack of scrolls. She had already moved out of her old home and was now living in a spacious compound.

From then on, maids would arrange everything from her clothing and food to her daily life. Hyuga Ao only needed to keep moving forward.

After completing the day's lessons.

Hyuga Ao soaked blissfully in a Medicinal Bath while enjoying a massage from a Branch Family maid. She finally understood why the Main Family clung so tightly to the Branch Family.

After enjoying privileges for so many years, who would want to let them go?

Corruption. This was far too corrupt!

Hyuga Ao enjoyed the maid's massage.

One had to admit, a Taijutsu family really was different. This technique, this strength...

Hyuga Ao felt all the fatigue leave her body.

Amid this feudal, corrupt indulgence, Hyuga Ao also sighed emotionally, lamenting the Main Family's confidence that they had nothing to fear.

With the Caged Bird in their hands, they were not afraid of Hyuga Ao making trouble.

Nor did they think Hyuga Ao had any reason to make trouble. In their eyes, these conditions were enough to overwhelm a seven-year-old girl, even if she was a genius.

But they could never have imagined that Hyuga Ao had lived two lifetimes.

With this mindset, Hyuga Ao obtained nearly all of the Main Family's Gentle Fist Secret Techniques, which greatly improved her.

Originally, she had been able to use techniques such as Rotation based on the scattered words from her previous life, but she could only use them. She could not be said to use them particularly well.

Now that she had received the Main Family's detailed explanations, she knew how to use them well, how to strike faster, and how to increase their power. This saved Hyuga Ao a great deal of time.

And with the Main Family's resources being supplied to her in full, Hyuga Ao's physical growth would accelerate noticeably.

However.

"Hmph, Main Family, just wait and see."

You are using me to seek the path to becoming a Shadow. Why wouldn't I use your resources in return?

Until the fundamental contradiction of the Caged Bird was resolved, Hyuga Ao and the Main Family would remain permanently opposed.