Hyuga Neji

Hyuga Neji

After school, Kagami came to the training ground, where Shisui was waiting for him as usual.

Today's training began.

As soon as he entered the training area, Kagami saw Shisui and smiled faintly. He raised his hand, and in an instant, four Kunai flew toward Shisui.

"Clang!"

Two Kunai struck Kagami's four Kunai at a clever angle, canceling out his attack.

Still so fast!

Kagami hadn't seen Shisui's throwing motion at all. It was simply too fast!

Still, this was normal. After being brutally beaten by Shisui so many times, Kagami had gotten used to it.

Snake–Goat–Monkey–Boar–Horse–Tiger!

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

A fireball roughly one meter in diameter appeared in front of Kagami and shot toward Shisui, scorching its way forward.

"Oh? You've learned this technique?"

Shisui was a little surprised.

Only two days ago, Kagami had completely mastered Nature Transformation. He hadn't expected Kagami to learn the Great Fireball Jutsu after just one day.

Moreover, Shisui had the Mangekyo, allowing him to see the speed of Kagami's Hand Seals clearly. Kagami's Hand Seal speed just now had probably already reached two seals per second.

"Interesting."

"Whoosh!"

Body Flicker Technique!

Shisui vanished from where he stood and appeared beside Kagami's left hand, dodging Kagami's Great Fireball.

At the same time—

Snake–Goat–Monkey–Boar–Horse–Tiger!

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

A fireball three meters in diameter appeared. It was three times larger than Kagami's fireball just now, and it roared toward Kagami.

"Ptooey!"

Kagami raised both hands to surrender. The enormous fireball automatically dispersed just before reaching him.

It was always like this. Kagami and Shisui trained against each other every day, and the infuriating part was that whatever attack Kagami used against Shisui, Shisui would respond with an even more ingenious attack.

For example, Kagami had just attacked Shisui with four Kunai, so Shisui had used two Kunai to cancel out his attack. Kagami had attacked Shisui with a Great Fireball, so Shisui had returned the favor with one three times larger than his.

Hearing Kagami's unwilling "Ptooey," Shisui burst into laughter. He walked over to Kagami and looked at him teasingly.

"Don't be so dissatisfied. Come on, tell me—what's your record now?"

Kagami turned his head away, unwilling to speak.

Shisui tilted his head and looked at him with an amused expression.

"Oh my, our little genius Kagami wouldn't happen to be afraid to admit his record, would he?"

Kagami rolled his eyes and answered reluctantly.

"302 losses, 0 wins."

Shisui couldn't hold back his laughter. He patted Kagami on the shoulder and "comforted" him.

"Ah, today's way was much better. Use more Ninjutsu in the future. That way, I can make you surrender faster too. When you kept using Kunai like before, I had to play with you for ages before I could make you surrender. How boring."

Kagami: "..."

It was true. When it came to Kunai alone, Kagami had already reached an extremely advanced level. Shisui had even said that if Kagami's Kunai techniques hadn't been taught by him—and if he hadn't known some of Kagami's habits—even Shisui might not necessarily have been able to beat Kagami with Kunai.

But when it came to Ninjutsu, Kagami had only just begun learning. There was no way he could compare with Shisui. As long as Shisui followed his lead and used Ninjutsu too, Kagami was certain to lose.

However, Kagami also knew that this was Shisui's unique way of teaching him. Since Shisui used whatever Kagami used, couldn't Kagami use the things he didn't know as a way to fight Shisui?

Shisui's meaning was obvious. He had stopped actively teaching Kagami anything. Instead, he waited passively for Kagami to learn. You don't know something? Then use it against me, and I'll personally demonstrate the right way to use it.

Of course, this was something the two of them understood without saying. Verbal teasing was still part of Shisui's daily routine. For example, the next second, Shisui spoke again.

"Oh my, I heard you're fighting that Hyuga Neji tomorrow."

The corner of Kagami's eye twitched.

"Wasn't it you who told me? Why would you need to hear about it?"

Shisui looked at Kagami teasingly.

"No, no, that's not the point. The point is, what if you lose? That Yamanaka Ino from yesterday, right? The little girl who wanted to see you—she'll probably be very sad, won't she? Hahaha."

Kagami gritted his teeth and glared at Shisui.

"We agreed not to bring that up."

Shisui spoke righteously.

"What I'm discussing with you now is tomorrow's match against Hyuga Neji. We weren't discussing the possibility that Yamanaka Ino might have a crush on you, so don't make things up."

Kagami didn't want to argue with Shisui about this any further, so he answered concisely.

"I'll win."

Shisui suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, see? You really do care about that girl. You said it so confidently just to keep her from being disappointed. Hahaha."

Kagami: "Shisui, get lost."

After teasing Kagami for a while, Shisui finally let him off and began discussing the matter seriously.

Shisui analyzed the situation for Kagami in earnest.

"Hyuga Neji is a genius of the Hyuga branch family. The Hyuga Clan's greatest characteristic is the Byakugan, and Hyuga Neji naturally has it as well. You also need to watch out for his Gentle Fist. The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan can see a person's meridians, nerves, and Chakra points. If you aren't careful, he may seal your points. Once that happens, you won't be able to use Chakra. Although your Taijutsu is also quite powerful, you already know Ninjutsu now. Having Chakra is a huge advantage, so you absolutely cannot let him seal your points.

"Also, the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan has astonishing insight—so much that it even surpasses our Uchiha Clan's Sharingan. Tricks such as illusions probably won't have much effect. If possible, it would be best to defeat him head-on. That would be safer."

Kagami nodded as he listened.

"Mm-hmm."

There was no way Kagami didn't know Hyuga Neji. In the original story, during the Chunin Ninja Exams, the strongest fighters in Konoha that year were Hyuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Sasuke Uchiha. As one of those three, Hyuga Neji relied on extraordinary talent. He was a true genius.

As for the Byakugan, there was no need to elaborate. It was an eye technique as famous as the Sharingan, so it couldn't possibly be weak. Besides, Kagami didn't even have the Sharingan yet.

The Gentle Fist was also known as Konoha's strongest Taijutsu style. It directly attacked the meridians, and because it could injure the internal organs, even a glancing blow could potentially be fatal.

Therefore, Hyuga Neji was definitely a formidable opponent. Although Kagami was confident he could win this battle, victory wasn't something that could be secured by confidence alone.

From Shisui's objective perspective, the battle was probably a forty-sixty split: forty percent for Hyuga Neji and sixty percent for Kagami.

Shisui rated Kagami slightly higher because he knew him inside and out. But who knew whether Hyuga Neji had some hidden tricks of his own?

Shisui looked at Kagami solemnly.

"In any case, you absolutely must not be careless in this battle!"

Kagami replied.

"Of course!"

Several hours later, after finishing a day of training, it was already night by the time Kagami finally returned home.

At the entrance, a woman in an apron stood holding a coat, constantly looking outside as if searching for something.

When she saw Kagami, the woman immediately beamed. She ran to his side, draped the coat over him, and spoke worriedly.

"Kagami, you don't have to train so late every day. Be careful not to catch a chill."

Kagami smiled faintly.

"It's fine, Mother. I can keep going. I won't bring shame to you and Father."

Yuko Uchiha spoke with heartache.

"Bring shame? How could you? I'm already so proud. I'm proud of you. Besides, even if I were to lose face, so what? Could that be more important than you staying safe and well? Come back earlier from now on. I've kept the food warm for you. Go eat."

Kagami nodded repeatedly.

"Mm-hmm."

No matter what happened or how much time passed, this home remained just as warm. That was why Kagami had to protect it with everything he had.

I definitely will. I'll protect all of you, Father, Mother.

In his heart, the boy silently made his vow.