"Again! I refuse to believe I can't land a hit!"
After finishing a set of Thirty-Two Palms, Hyuga Himon took a deep breath. The veins at the corners of his eyes stood out more prominently as he unleashed a flurry of Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, his strikes almost blurring together.
"I was only trying to help you, so why are you getting so worked up?"
"Cut the chatter!"
Hyuga Himon's swift palm strike forced Qingye to turn and dodge.
A moment later, through his Byakugan's field of vision, he saw a shuriken hurtling out from the treetops behind Qingye's translucent figure. It was aimed straight at Qingye's head.
"Are you trying to make me miss the sound of the shuriken cutting through the air by talking?"
Qingye didn't even turn around. He shifted slightly to the side, and the shuriken grazed past him.
The attack missed. From the direction the shuriken had come, a rustle of leaves and branches sounded.
Clearly, Yūhi Kurenai had seen her sneak attack fail and hurriedly changed positions.
Himon's Byakugan could see Yūhi Kurenai hidden among the branches behind them. He'd used Gentle Fist to force Qingye to turn, putting his back toward Kurenai.
And Kurenai had been quick to seize the opportunity.
But, unfortunately—
"That might work on a stranger."
Qingye smiled and shook his head. "But I know you too well, Himon. You're not the kind of person who'd get riled up over nothing in the middle of a fight and start shouting wildly."
"..."
Hyuga Himon panted lightly, his feelings complicated.
I mean, is it possible he really was a little angry just now?
Sure, he'd deliberately shouted to help Kurenai and interfere with Qingye's hearing.
But Qingye had casually deflected his all-out Eight Trigrams Palm, and then kept needling him with trash talk!
And every word hit right where it hurt!
Who wouldn't get worked up listening to that?!
"Again!"
Hyuga Himon regulated his breathing and calmed himself down before launching another Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms at Qingye.
This time, his composure was steadier, but his stamina was rapidly draining after one high-speed attack after another. He could only watch in frustration as Qingye casually batted away his attacks with one hand.
"Now!"
After forcing Qingye to dodge and change position with an all-out assault, Hyuga Himon suddenly leaped backward.
At that moment, two silver threads glinted faintly in the sunlight behind Qingye.
At the same time, a kunai shot toward Qingye from the front, while another thread behind him shimmered with a metallic sheen.
"Got you!"
Holding a steel wire, Yūhi Kurenai appeared on Qingye's right.
She'd already laid a wire behind Qingye, where he now stood, to restrict his movements.
Combined with the wire attached to the kunai she'd just thrown, she'd sealed off all of Qingye's room to maneuver!
"Friendly tip: don't use steel wire against us Uchiha."
Qingye caught the kunai with his right hand and turned to look toward Yūhi Kurenai.
Whirr!
His Sharingan fixed her in place. Genjutsu activated!
Then Qingye rapidly formed several Hand Seals with his right hand, the one holding the kunai.
"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!"
A fire dragon burst from Qingye's mouth and raced along the wire attached to the kunai, rushing toward Yūhi Kurenai!
Trapped in the Genjutsu, Kurenai's body froze for several seconds. At last, she broke free, dropped the wire she was holding, and hurriedly dodged the flames bearing down on her.
"...I lost."
Yūhi Kurenai landed on the ground, unwilling to admit defeat.
Hyuga Himon gave up on fighting, too.
He'd used up too much stamina, and Kurenai, who'd been hiding in an attempt to ambush Qingye, had been forced out.
There was no point in continuing.
"Is the gap really this big...?"
Hyuga Himon couldn't help feeling defeated.
Qingye was still recovering from his injuries, yet he hadn't made a single major leap to dodge. He'd used only one hand the entire time!
Even working together, he and Kurenai hadn't stood a chance.
Hadn't the gap between him and Kakashi back in the Ninja Academy been about this big, too?
"A loss is a loss, but, Qingye! Didn't you say you wouldn't use Genjutsu?"
Yūhi Kurenai rolled her eyes.
If she hadn't fallen for Qingye's Genjutsu, she'd clearly had a chance to escape and hide again.
Qingye spread his hands. "I said I wouldn't use Genjutsu on Himon. I never said I wouldn't use it on you, Kurenai."
Thinking back, Kurenai realized that was indeed what he'd said...
"But your tactics were good, Kurenai. And you didn't waste Chakra trying to use Genjutsu on me. That deserves praise." Qingye nodded approvingly.
"I'm not that stupid!"
Yūhi Kurenai retorted.
Genjutsu wouldn't work on a Three-Tomoe Uchiha, even if her dad tried.
"But isn't your Uchiha Clan a little too unfair? Genjutsu's basically useless against you, and ninja tools, steel wire, and Shurikenjutsu are your specialties, too."
"Even Taijutsu. When it comes to reading opponents in close combat, a Three-Tomoe Sharingan seems even more useful than our Hyuga Byakugan."
Damn it!
Weren't the Byakugan and Sharingan supposed to be two of the Three Great Dōjutsu Bloodline Limits?!
"And another thing, Qingye—you formed Hand Seals with one hand just now, didn't you?"
Yūhi Kurenai stared at Qingye's left arm, which was still in a cast.
When had he learned that, too?
Qingye shook his head. "I've barely gotten the hang of it. I'm still very clumsy."
He could just about manage the Dragon Fire Technique, a C-rank Fire Style technique, and even then, his Hand Seals were very slow.
After their spar, Yūhi Kurenai and Hyuga Himon had both seen what Qingye could do, and neither had any objections to the arrangements ahead.
Qingye was also satisfied with their abilities and teamwork.
Once they'd settled on a plan for the next few days, Qingye suddenly thought of something and added, "Oh, and try to use all your mission rewards to apply for Explosive Tags. That way, you'll have a better chance of surviving if you run into a Jonin."
That was hard-earned survival experience from two and a half years of holding the line on the battlefield.
With Yūhi Kurenai and Hyuga Himon's abilities, they wouldn't need many Explosive Tags against Chunin.
But if they ran into a Jonin, they'd probably have to throw Explosive Tags like crazy just to stay alive.
"Use it all? Shouldn't we save some money?"
Hyuga Himon asked, confused.
Qingye shot back, "First, make sure you survive the war. You can think about saving money afterward."
"I get what you're saying..." Hyuga Himon still seemed hesitant.
During wartime, the village paid mission rewards, and didn't take a cut.
That meant you could save a lot of money by completing missions during the war.
"Say, Himon, I remember you're an orphan, same as me, right?"
Qingye rolled his eyes and grinned.
Hyuga Himon: "..."
Was that really something to say with a smile?
If Himon hadn't known Qingye was an orphan, too, he might have thought Qingye was mocking him.
Qingye cheerfully patted Hyuga Himon on the shoulder. "Think about it. What if you save up a pile of money, then die on the battlefield? What happens to your money? Who gets to spend it?"
"You know, the most painful thing in life is dying before you've spent all your money!"
"And for someone in the Hyuga Branch Family, the most painful thing of all is dying, only for the money you worked so hard to earn to end up back in the Main Family's hands."
Hyuga Himon's breath caught.
Damn, why did that sound so reasonable?!
Before you continue