Konoha Senpu!
Hyuga Sho suddenly lowered his body while clashing Kunai with his opponent.
He launched a sweeping kick.
The fierce Taijutsu sweep cut toward Uchiha Tekka.
The latter leaped, both feet leaving the ground.
"..."
Hyuga Sho's eyes widened slightly.
Because—
Uchiha Tekka was the first person to evade that move.
But at that moment—
Uchiha Tekka was even more astonished inside.
He was practically roaring in his heart, How does Hyuga Sho know Konoha Senpu?! Isn't he from the Hyuga Clan? What happened to the Gentle Fist?! This isn't Hyuga at all~~!
From that alley until now, after exchanging so many rounds, Uchiha Tekka had not seen a trace of the Gentle Fist.
On the contrary—
Hyuga Sho's Rigid Fist Taijutsu was fierce and forceful.
It flowed with extreme smoothness.
The only person who had ever given him that feeling was Hatake Kakashi.
Bang!!
Another clash.
Because they had put too much force into it—
Their Kunai were knocked away.
The two began fighting barehanded.
From here on—
This was Hyuga Sho's domain.
From nearly half a year of actual combat, as well as observing other people's battles—
Hyuga Sho had reached a conclusion: "In barehanded combat, the Hyuga Clan usually holds the advantage."
Gentle Fist!
Hyuga Sho extended his index and middle fingers.
He folded the rest of his fingers together.
His right hand viciously jabbed at Uchiha Tekka.
Uchiha Tekka raised her arm, blocking the first strike.
An overwhelming force traveled from Hyuga Sho's fingertips into his arm.
In an instant, more than half his arm went numb.
Theoretically, that should have been impossible.
The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist—
Was not known for brute muscular strength.
Instead, it mainly relied on driving Chakra into the human body to inflict internal injuries.
Strictly speaking, it was an "enchanted attack."
But this Hyuga Sho—
With one jab of his fingers, his arm felt as though it had been run over by a wheel!
"Urgh!"
Uchiha Tekka could not help groaning in pain.
He did not know—
That Hyuga Sho combined hardness and softness.
And after gaining Earth Style, he had mastered the Hardening Jutsu.
His entire body was as hard as steel.
Even striking with his bare fingers—
Was no less powerful than stabbing someone with an iron rod.
Eight Trigrams Two Palms!!
Hyuga Sho attacked with both hands.
He rapidly thrust out two fingers.
Bang! Bang!
Uchiha Tekka barely managed to block them.
His left arm went numb as well.
Eight Trigrams Four Palms!!
Hyuga Sho thrust out four fingers.
They pierced through his opponent's defense.
And struck his chest and abdomen.
Eight Trigrams Eight Palms!!
The consecutive finger strikes created afterimages.
It was as though Hyuga Sho had suddenly grown eight arms.
Bang bang bang bang...!
Eight explosive impacts rang out in succession.
"Uwaah~~!!"
Uchiha Tekka's body trembled as he screamed. Finally, he toppled backward like a torn sack.
"Our Hyuga Clan is Konoha's number one clan!"
After beating him, Hyuga Sho immediately struck a Gentle Fist pose on the spot.
He put on a traditional performance of the Hyuga Clan.
This scene—
Left Might Guy utterly dumbfounded.
His widened eyes stared at Hyuga Sho in disbelief.
As though he had seen an alien.
"Hyuga Sho... He, he defeated that genius youth, Uchiha Tekka?"
Elsewhere—
Hyuga Mami, standing atop a roof with her Byakugan activated, saw things even more clearly.
The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist was a form of Taijutsu that released Chakra into an opponent's body and destroyed them from within.
Just now, Hyuga Sho—
Had used Gentle Fist techniques without attaching Chakra, yet still defeated Uchiha Tekka.
The difficulty of that was as dangerous as pulling chestnuts from a fire or walking a Steel wire.
"Hyuga Sho defeated him without even using the Gentle Fist's true attack..."
Because of the distance, Hyuga Mami's astonishment did not reach Hyuga Sho's ears.
[Doka Degree: 14.6%]
Seeing his Doka Degree suddenly rise by 0.5%, Hyuga Sho was very satisfied.
That meant—
Uchiha Tekka alone—
Was worth even more experience than a whole dozen people like Ebisu, Shiranui Genma, Yamashiro Aoba, Namiashi Raidō, Mitaraishi Anko, Asuma, and the rest!
"As expected of a genius youth of the Uchiha Clan."
Hyuga Sho sincerely praised the experience he had gained from his opponent.
"Hyuga Sho!"
Uchiha Tekka lay on the ground, baring his teeth in pain. His whole body hurt terribly.
"You won, so you won! Why are you still mocking me like this..."
"Oh, sorry."
Hyuga Sho withdrew his Gentle Fist stance and said with an honest and simple expression.
"No~~~!"
Uchiha Tekka cried out in anguish.
"I don't need your pity~~!"
He scrambled to his feet, turned around, and left.
This time, he truly looked like a beast licking its wounds.
"Please wait."
Hyuga Sho raised a hand to call out to him.
There was still something important he had not asked.
"I want to ask: between me, who defeated you, and Kakashi, who is stronger?"
"!"
Uchiha Tekka halted.
He abruptly turned around.
His vicious gaze looked as though it wanted to devour Hyuga Sho whole.
"Actually... my goal is the same as yours. We both want to defeat Kakashi."
Hyuga Sho's expression turned solemn as he immediately said.
"Uchiha Obito is my good friend. Kakashi looks down on Obito terribly. To vent Obito's anger, and to gain enough confidence to defeat Kakashi, I came looking for you. I wanted to spar with you and see what I was really capable of."
Hyuga Sho wore a deeply ashamed expression.
He seemed remorseful for not being frank from the beginning.
Seeing Hyuga Sho clench his fists...
The anger on Uchiha Tekka's face... faded a little.
The children in this world really seem especially easy to fool...
Hyuga Sho maintained his ashamed expression.
That was what he muttered inwardly.
"..."
Uchiha Tekka walked over and looked Hyuga Sho up and down.
"Obito... the dead last of our clan..."
Of course, Uchiha Tekka knew Uchiha Obito.
After all—
They were close in age.
And belonged to the same clan.
They saw each other every day.
He had indeed heard about Hyuga Sho flying into a rage for his friend and beating Shiranui Genma badly.
It seemed...
This kid was telling the truth...
At that thought—
Uchiha Tekka's expression softened considerably.
"Your Taijutsu is probably about equal to Kakashi's. But you are stronger than him, and that is an advantage."
"But if Kakashi chooses to use Ninja tools like Kunai, you may not necessarily be his match. What's more, Hatake Kakashi can use Ninjutsu."
"Overall, unless Kakashi gives up every other method and fights you barehanded, don't even think about beating him..."
After saying those words, Uchiha Tekka turned and left.
This also gave Hyuga Sho a rough idea of Kakashi's strength from someone else's account.
Actually, I could pretend to be caught in Genjutsu and seize that opportunity to defeat Kakashi.
Hyuga Sho gave Uchiha Tekka a deep look, then turned around as well and went to find Hyuga Mami.
Inside the alley—
Might Guy stared at Hyuga Sho's departing back, still stunned by the sight of him defeating Uchiha Tekka.
"Hard work... Can hard work really defeat genius?"
Before you continue