Crushing the Hyuga Clan, I'll Be Back

"Hey, Neji, why's your face so red?"

"Don't tell me you're blushing?"

Noticing the ruddy complexion of the boy in his arms, Jin raised an eyebrow, a little surprised.

In the original story, Neji in his early days was a very cold, taciturn, and proud youth.

Even if he was hard-shelled and soft-hearted, he wouldn't get embarrassed this easily, right?

The next second, he found out.

This wasn't embarrassment at all—it was clearly anger.

"Shut your mouth!"

Neji barked, his small face fully flushed red.

He didn't like Hinata.

And he sure as hell didn't like men who couldn't keep their hands to themselves!

With that, he raised his hand and struck a palm!

Gentle Fist!

Slap!

The palm landed, and he pulled back, retreating.

"Oh, so you're lashing out in shame, huh."

Jin patted his clothes, unbothered.

That Gentle Fist strike hadn't even broken his defense.

"N-no... no effect?"

Seeing Jin completely unfazed, Neji froze for a moment.

That palm of his had been aimed right at a joint where Chakra flowed!

Forget a kid—even an adult would be wincing for a while after taking that hit.

Then his expression shifted.

Veins bulged around his eyes, spreading like a spiderweb across his temples.

Byakugan!

The next second, two gazes locked onto Jin like flames.

And then Neji's raised hand stopped mid-air: "H-how... how is that possible?!"

In his sight, the Chakra all over Jin, five meters away, was perfectly unified, seamless and complete.

That was a level only an experienced jonin who'd trained for years could reach!

"No... did I see wrong?"

In his confusion, he instinctively glanced at the clan head.

"No, the clan head's Chakra looks the same..."

"How the hell is Uchiha Jin on the same level as the clan head?!"

He was stunned.

His hands hung in the air, still in the Gentle Fist stance.

But he didn't know how to strike.

A perfectly unified Chakra—with his current Gentle Fist, he couldn't break through it.

Let alone disrupt the Chakra flow.

So... was he left with only that move?

After a moment's hesitation, Hyuga Neji closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The small locks of brown hair on either side of his head swayed faintly.

Between his hands, the Chakra grew denser and denser.

"This is..."

"Looks like the Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Palm..."

Not far away, Hyuga Hiashi and the clan elder widened their eyes again at the sight of that iconic starting stance.

They exchanged a glance, thoroughly surprised.

This was a palm technique only the Main Family could master—when had the Branch Family ever learned it?

"No one taught him... could the kid have figured it out on his own?"

Hiashi's eyes flickered.

There was no anger at a Branch Family member learning a Main Family technique.

All that remained were surprises and shocks.

He looked at the small Neji, whose brow faintly bore Hizashi's features.

Then he looked toward his own soft, timid eldest daughter. At this moment, Hiashi fell silent.

"Perhaps... Hinata really isn't suited to take over the main house?"

"If Hanabi takes over, then Hinata..."

Slowly, his gaze shifted back to Jin.

A sharp light gleamed in his eyes.

No one knew what he was thinking.

In the courtyard.

Neji's body gradually began to change.

Chakra surged endlessly in his palms!

His Byakugan suddenly activated, veins bulging violently around his eyes!

His vision seemed to pierce through Jin's body, precisely locking onto all sixty-four chakra points.

"So what if he's perfected it? As long as I keep striking the same point, it'll work in the end!"

He muttered a low shout, "Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

The next second, his palms turned into afterimages as they descended.

Slap! Slap!

The sound of palm strikes fell like droplets of water.

The first two palms struck directly at Jin's collarbones, attempting to cut off the flow of chakra to his arms!

Slap! Slap! Slap!

The next four palms slammed into his chest!

The lung meridians were attacked—for an ordinary person, even breathing would be a luxury.

But these two sets were just the beginning.

As his spinning body grew faster, the speed of his palm strikes suddenly skyrocketed!

Eight palms!

Sixteen palms!

Thirty-two palms!

His small hands poured down like a storm, striking the same spot on Jin's back!

If one palm couldn't break through, then two!

If two weren't enough, then four!

He believed that under this relentless, high-frequency assault, even an adult ninja wouldn't be able to withstand it!

Finally, the sixty-four palms came to an end.

The chakra he had built up at his fingertips exploded outward like a shockwave.

Boom!

The courtyard ground was cracked with spiderweb-like fissures from the palm force.

The final palm also blasted countless clouds of dust into the air.

Smoke and dust filled the space, blocking everyone's view.

"Did... did it work?"

Neji panted slightly, his gaze fixed tightly on the dust cloud in the center.

Unlike his seriousness, the other boys who had been knocked down looked excited.

"It was the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms! That bastard Neji secretly learned this!"

"Awesome, all of them hit!"

"Hmph! I've been sick of that Uchiha for a while now!"

"Jin..." Only Hinata looked worriedly into the dust cloud.

She wanted to step forward, but didn't know how to speak...

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

After several seconds, the dust dispersed, gradually revealing a clear, handsome face.

"Hiss... Neji, it's a real shame you didn't become a masseur."

Jin rolled his neck and back, joints popping with a series of crackling sounds.

Comfortable!

After that whole routine, forget arthritis—even the frozen shoulder from lying sideways in one position for years was all worked out!

Comfortable, so comfortable!

Jin stretched lazily.

Glancing at the failed conversation prompt before him, he didn't waste any more time. He simply stretched his palm toward Neji.

A faint smile. "Eight Trigrams, Empty Palm."

Boom!

Like a cannonball, the compressed air shot out violently.

With the Byakugan active, Neji saw that air bomb clearly.

He even tried to sidestep and dodge.

But the moment he moved, a massive force slammed into his abdomen.

The next instant, he was sent flying.

Soaring high.

Crashing down hard.

Boom!

In the courtyard, dust rose again.

But this time, all the young members of the Hyuga Clan fell silent.

More precisely, it was dead quiet.

Even the dullest among them had grasped what just happened.

Gulp.

Gulp.

The only sound left in the courtyard was the swallowing of the boys' saliva.

"Hm? You guys... still want to try?"

Jin smiled, turning to sweep his gaze across the crowd.

Though he wasn't tall and his voice wasn't loud, when those words left his mouth, not a single boy dared meet his eyes.

They silently lowered their heads.

Their faces flushed faintly.

This time, it was anger and shame.

Seeing this, Jin nodded, then beckoned to Hinata. "Come here."

"Ah..."

Hinata, lost in a daze of admiration, startled. Before the joy could fade from her face, Jin grabbed her and pulled her over.

Tap tap tap.

He led little Hinata to stand before Neji, then bent down.

In his eyes, the Three Tomoe glowed with an eerie red light:

"Neji, she—is your little sister, you know."

With that, he patted Hinata's small hand and turned to leave.

His steps were calm and carefree.

He paid no mind to the defeated boys of the Hyuga Clan sprawled across the courtyard behind him.

Only when he reached the gate, seeing the prompt before him, could he no longer hold back.

He raised his right hand, ran it through his hair, pressed his palm to his forehead, and bent over.

Head down, he burst into uncontrollable laughter!

"HAHAHAHA!"

Amid the laughter, he glanced back at the red-faced Hyuga boys and murmured, "Next week, I'll be back."