Battle with Hyuga Hiashi

After finishing a meal with Naruto, Neji checked the time and found it was still early, so he headed toward the Hyuga Clan compound.

Ever since buying a new home on the edge of the village, Neji had not returned to the Hyuga Clan compound for quite some time. Even for clan events, he had always found excuses to decline.

Neji's actions naturally drew quite a few complaints from the clan members, but most of it stopped at verbal criticism. No one had truly done anything to him. His uncle, Hyuga Hiashi, had probably helped smooth things over behind the scenes.

Now that he had come out of seclusion, Neji planned to speak with Hyuga Hiashi and see whether, after removing the Caged Bird, he could still coexist peacefully with the Hyuga Clan and Konoha.

In the past, Neji would never have entertained such a naive idea. It was like stripping the Main House naked, flicking their little brother, and saying, "So small," then asking them to stay calm and not get angry!

Just thinking about it felt a little demonic!

But if there were another condition—if a dagger were pressed to the Main House's chest before stripping their pants, flicking their little brother, and telling them to calm down and not get angry—

Neji did not know whether this method of physical calming would work on others, but it would probably have some effect on those Main House members who had spent years without war or much bloodshed.

Even if it failed, the consequences would not be serious. At worst, he could activate the backup plan. Zabuza was almost done building his palace anyway. A sea-view house, and a detached one at that. Just thinking about it got him fired up!

As he walked and thought, he soon arrived at the Clan Head's residence.

After knocking and announcing himself, Neji was soon brought before Clan Head Hyuga Hiashi. The Clan Head had not changed much over the years, but seeing that face made Neji think of his father, leaving him slightly melancholy.

Hyuga Hiashi was also rather surprised. Neji had always been withdrawn, and after his father Hizashi died, he had become so reclusive that he rarely went out unless necessary. This was the first time in all these years that he had taken the initiative to seek Hiashi out.

Neji did not beat around the bush. Staring at Hyuga Hiashi, he said in a deep voice, "Clan Head, I feel that I have achieved something in my studies recently. I hope to spar with you, find my shortcomings, and seek further improvement!"

A twelve-year-old child who had not even graduated from the Ninja Academy had come to challenge the Clan Head to a spar. It could be called an extremely unreasonable request.

Yet Hyuga Hiashi did not get angry. He merely found it strange. What had given Neji the courage to challenge him? Hiashi was equally curious about that, so he nodded in agreement and rose to gesture for Neji to follow.

The two arrived one after the other at the Clan Head's private training ground within the Hyuga Clan. It was quite spacious, roughly the size of two basketball courts, more than enough for ordinary training.

And Hyuga Hiashi did not believe he needed a larger place to deal with a junior.

Without further words, once they had taken their positions, formed the Seal of Opposition, and assumed the opening stance of the Gentle Fist, the spar officially began.

Neji did not dare underestimate his opponent. He immediately activated his Byakugan, taking in Hyuga Hiashi's condition at a glance. Around 4,500 Ka of Chakra—strength close to Kage-level.

Hyuga Hiashi activated his Byakugan as well, but what made him frown was that he could not see Neji's Chakra clearly. Hiashi could sense an immensely powerful flow of Chakra within Neji's body, but it was shrouded by some other energy, preventing him from seeing Neji's exact condition.

But with battle imminent, even against a junior, Hiashi could not allow himself to be distracted.

Since he could not see clearly, Hiashi raised his hand and launched an Empty Palm at Neji, intending to test his strength.

Neji had sought out Hyuga Hiashi to spar precisely to display his strength, so naturally he would not do anything as meaningless as hiding it.

Neji directly mobilized his Chakra and charged straight at Hyuga Hiashi and the incoming Empty Palm without dodging.

Just as the Empty Palm was about to strike Neji, he still did not evade. However, a layer of Chakra shield condensed in front of him, easily blocking the Empty Palm.

It did not affect Neji's speed in the slightest. The two had not been far apart to begin with, and after this exchange, Neji was less than ten meters from Hiashi. That was an extremely dangerous distance.

Both stopped at the same time, planted their feet, assumed the Gentle Fist stance, and spread their Eight Trigrams Formations. An invisible force field collided, tore at itself, and fought for control between them!

Neither stopped moving. With identical opening stances, they both unleashed Gentle Fist Art—Eight Trigrams—Sixty-Four Palms, and the space between them was instantly covered by dense, invisible palm force.

Before the old palm force had dissipated, new palm force formed at high speed. In just one or two breaths, the invisible palm force unleashed by both had exceeded the limits of Gentle Fist Art—Eight Trigrams—Sixty-Four Palms and surged toward Gentle Fist Art—Eight Trigrams—One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms. Yet one hundred twenty-eight palms was clearly not the limit for either of them.

By the time Hyuga Hiashi began to feel some strain, they had already exchanged nearly five hundred palms through the air. It left him in an awkward position—he had actually fallen into a disadvantage!

Hiashi decided to hold back no longer. He mobilized the Chakra throughout his body, concentrating and compressing it in his right palm. Seizing an opening, he unleashed Gentle Fist Art—Eight Trigrams—Mountain-Shattering Empty Palm.

An enormous, highly condensed Chakra palm seal rapidly pressed down on Neji. The giant palm instantly crushed the ordinary Empty Palms Neji had launched and continued bearing down on him without losing momentum.

Neji showed no fear. He directly stirred his Chakra, spun his body, and used the Gentle Fist Art—Eight Trigrams—Lightning Great Rotation he had used against Sasuke.

In the training ground, an enormous, highly condensed palm slammed toward a rotating hemisphere roughly twenty meters in diameter, radiating the aura of lightning.

The two held against each other for only a moment before exploding with a thunderous boom, forming a massive Chakra storm that swept through the entire training ground!

Neither retreated. They charged toward each other at high speed through the Chakra storm!

Neji bent his knees and sprang into the air. At the same time, a Great Ball Rasengan rapidly formed in his right hand, which he drove down toward Hyuga Hiashi.

Hyuga Hiashi was already stunned by Neji's strength, but they were still in battle, and he could not afford to lose focus. Otherwise, he might lose at any moment.

Hyuga Hiashi adjusted his footwork, once more mobilized the Chakra throughout his body, and pushed both hands forward as he shouted softly, "Gentle Fist Art—Eight Trigrams—Great Mountain-Shattering Empty Palm."

A pair of Chakra palms even stronger than the ones Hiashi had launched earlier rushed toward the Great Ball Rasengan.

With a BOOM!!, the violent explosion rapidly swept across the entire field. At its center, a massive crater twenty meters wide and six or seven meters deep was blasted open.

When the two finally stood still, Hyuga Hiashi could not help gasping violently. The successive high-intensity use of Chakra had already pushed him close to his limit, and he could only barely keep himself standing.

Though overworking his body made Hyuga Hiashi feel miserable, Neji's strength had repeatedly shattered his expectations. Gentle Fist palm techniques no weaker than his own, the absurdly powerful Lightning Kaiten, and the Fourth Hokage's signature Great Ball Rasengan—what was that? How could Neji use it too?

But just as Hiashi thought Neji, like himself, was merely forcing himself onward, Neji's voice drifted over calmly.

"Clan Head, have you ever heard of Sage Art?"

Hyuga Hiashi's pupils contracted, and his heart seemed to skip a beat. As the Clan Head of one of Konoha's great clans, he naturally knew of Sage Jutsu. Some elders in the clan had even attempted to cultivate it, though none had succeeded in the end.

But Konoha's First Hokage—Hashirama Senju—had relied on his incomparably powerful Sage Jutsu to cut through every obstacle, defeat one enemy after another, and earn the title God of Shinobi. This was hardly classified information.

Hyuga Hiashi had a bad feeling, and Neji's next move proved that suspicion true!

Sage Art—Gentle Fist—Eight Trigrams—Sixty-Four Palms differed from the Gentle Fist—Eight Trigrams—Sixty-Four Palms used earlier in that it incorporated Natural Energy into the mobilized Chakra, forming Sage Chakra!

And the Gentle Fist—Eight Trigrams—Sixty-Four Palms unleashed through Sage Chakra was: Sage Art—Gentle Fist—Eight Trigrams—Sixty-Four Palms.

As the target of the attack, Hyuga Hiashi felt immense pressure. Before the attack even reached him, the aura radiated by Sage Art had already nearly suffocated him!

But Hyuga Hiashi was the head of a clan and a veteran Jonin, not someone who had earned his reputation for nothing.

Forcibly suppressing the fear in his heart, he rapidly squeezed out his Chakra once more and activated an enhanced Gentle Fist Art—Kaiten, defending himself without a single opening.

But when the first palm of Sage Art—Gentle Fist—Eight Trigrams—Sixty-Four Palms struck the enhanced Kaiten, Hyuga Hiashi knew it was over. They were not on the same level at all. With only one strike from Neji, the Kaiten he had sustained with all his strength already showed signs of cracking.

And reality was exactly as Hiashi had calculated. After only seven strikes, the Kaiten he had maintained with all his strength shattered. The eighth strike flew directly past his hair.

Having already felt the threat of death, Hyuga Hiashi realized that the ninth strike had not come. The heart hanging in his chest finally settled, and only then did he discover that his back was completely drenched in sweat.

"Is this Sage Art?" Hyuga Hiashi murmured softly. He still could not believe that he had lost, that twelve-year-old Neji had mastered the Sage Jutsu of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, or that Neji had already become so powerful!!

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