"What's that coming at me?"
At the sound, Ao snapped his head to the side,
and saw—
"Whoosh!"
A black-handled ninja sword shot straight toward his face, tearing through the air like a thrown javelin!
Ao's scalp prickled. He didn't dare hesitate, and immediately stepped back, abandoning his attack on Hyuga Natsu as he swung his Ninja Blade up to parry!
"Clang!"
Blade met blade with a thunderous crash!
Ao's arm went numb. He had barely managed to block the strike when he saw that the finely crafted Ninja Blade in his hand had split and bent in the middle.
Just then, Kensuke, the sensor ninja beside him, shouted,
"Careful, that guy—he's coming!"
"Whoosh!"
A shrill rush of air erupted beside his ear.
In the space of a breath, Ao looked up and saw a blurry green figure hurtling toward him at a speed that nearly surpassed the limits of sight!
Ao decisively dropped his Ninja Blade and rapidly formed Hand Seals with his other, still-numb-free hand—
Ox—Monkey—Hare—Rat—Boar—Rooster—Ox—Horse—Rooster—Rat—Tiger—Dog—Tiger—Snake—Ox—Goat—Snake—Boar.
He formed eighteen seals in five seconds!
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
The next instant,
a surge of water rose from beneath Ao's feet like a dam bursting. Carrying enough force to bend steel, it crashed indiscriminately in every direction!
Most Water Release ninja would have used the Water Formation Wall, which required only five seals, but Ao knew that wouldn't be enough. The figure rushing toward him was clearly skilled in Taijutsu, and a Water Formation Wall that defended only one side couldn't keep up with his speed!
Besides, his opponent had chosen this moment to attack for the sake of the woman before him. This move would force him to abandon Ao as his target!
When fighting a Taijutsu specialist, the most important thing was to create distance during the first exchange and use that time to learn about the opponent, quickly adapting to his rhythm.
At that moment,
just as the wave was about to crash into Hyuga Natsu, the figure hurtling over twisted midair. He abandoned the punch aimed at Ao, who was close enough to touch and had already drawn a kunai in preparation, and instead scooped up Hyuga Natsu. Pushing off with his toes, he shot more than ten meters away, evading the most powerful first surge of the Water Shockwave Technique.
Then,
the blurry figure gradually came into focus. He stopped more than ten meters from Ao and revealed himself.
He wore a black combat suit and had a pair of cold, ferocious white eyes. His long black hair floated around him in the green chakra that coiled over his body, making him look like a demon.
It was Hyuga Yu, who had opened the Third Gate of the Eight Inner Gates!
"Hm? You... it's you!"
Ao's eyes widened slightly as he stared at Hyuga Yu in astonishment. He immediately recognized the boy, whose appearance had changed completely from before—the Hyuga brat he'd deliberately let escape to avoid jeopardizing the mission.
In an instant, Ao's mind raced. Whatever explanation he came up with made his expression darken, and he said in a low voice,
"So that's it."
"You're the real bodyguard the Hyuga Clan assigned to protect the Main House!"
"Pfft." Hyuga Natsu, still in Hyuga Yu's arms, couldn't help laughing at that. She found it too amusing.
Hyuga Yu glared at her and gently set her down,
then calmly raised his head and stared coldly at Ao, who stood more than ten meters away.
He said nothing, and had no desire to say anything.
Every word he spoke now would be a pointless drain on his stamina.
Besides,
Hyuga Yu knew all too well that his current "Super Saiyan" state would last only four more minutes!
Hyuga Natsu tactfully backed away. Although she was curious about this form Hyuga Yu had never shown her before,
she understood that there was something she needed to do right away.
Hyuga Natsu's gaze turned cold. She immediately drew a kunai from her waist and leaped toward Hyuga Genko.
Meanwhile, on the other side,
Ao took a deep breath and immediately ordered Kensuke,
"Kensuke, use the Rain Cutter Technique to support me from the side!"
At the same time, Ao stared coldly at Hyuga Yu. After shaking out his numb right hand,
he brought his hands together and formed the Ram seal!
Without needing a warning or further explanation, the two faced each other from ten meters apart and charged at each other as fast as they could!
"Whoosh!"
"Swish!"
To keep up with Hyuga Yu's now-supersonic movements, Ao used the Water Body Flicker Technique again. At the same time, he swung his other hand, sending out a whip made entirely of water.
Water Release: Water Whip.
This was a classic Water Release technique. It was versatile and flexible, with considerable striking power. Most importantly, against Taijutsu specialists, a skilled Water Release user could make it more pliable, so that once it wrapped around an opponent, it would tighten further the more he struggled!
As they rapidly surged forward across the ground, Ao swung the water whip at Hyuga Yu.
However,
"Smack!"
Hyuga Yu tried to dodge sideways, only to realize that his eyesight couldn't keep up with his speed. He overstepped while making a close-range adjustment. He avoided the first lash, but that meant he couldn't dodge the second, which snapped back at him.
In the end, he could only let the water whip strike him. Enduring the pain as it cut into his flesh, Hyuga Yu gritted his teeth and grabbed the end of the whip with his free hand.
Then,
he stomped down, driving his foot into the fractured ground and anchoring himself in place. He twisted his body around!
It was just like a tug-of-war!
But the lightweight Ao's expression shifted. He was yanked forward by a force like that of a charging bull.
Hyuga Yu stared coldly at him, raising a hand and curling it into a claw as he waited for Ao to bring his face within reach so he could crush it!
Although his normal speed had now exceeded the speed of sound, the Byakugan didn't grant him enhanced dynamic vision. In close combat, Hyuga Yu relied more on the boost in strength that the Third Gate gave him.
However,
Ao seemed to be at a disadvantage, on the verge of being caught in Hyuga Yu's iron grip,
but now he quietly revealed a foxlike smirk. As he rapidly closed in on Hyuga Yu, he formed seven seals with one hand.
Snake—Goat—Horse—Hare—Goat—Horse—Hare!
Water Prison Technique!
Ao had been waiting for this chance to subdue Hyuga Yu in one move!
Now almost face-to-face with Hyuga Yu, Ao raised his hand. The orb of water in his palm rapidly expanded, swallowing Hyuga Yu whole!
With one hand restrained by the Water Whip, Hyuga Yu had no room to move and was suspended inside the bubble. With no foothold, it would be extremely difficult for him to escape the jutsu—
unless he could fly, or opened the Sixth Gate and burst into a whole new realm as the legendary Water-Cutting Master.
However,
Hyuga Yu might actually be able to fly!
The Reverse Lotus, a Taijutsu technique that could only be used after opening the Third Gate of the Eight Inner Gates, was a high-speed attack that opponents couldn't even touch. It could even let the user step on the air and fly around in the sky.
Hyuga Yu hadn't learned the Reverse Lotus yet, but that didn't stop him from trying to use his current stats to stomp the air apart and launch himself upward!
Soon,
under Ao's baffled gaze,
"Gurgle..."
Hyuga Yu yanked the Water Whip off his wrist and began stomping furiously in place inside the Water Prison!
At first, he couldn't understand how to step on something as intangible and invisible as air or water. But then, one of his feet accidentally struck the green chakra swirling around him. The chakra stirred the water beneath his foot, and he felt as if he'd stepped on a hard clump of cow dung.
Hyuga Yu suddenly understood.
To fly in the sky by stepping on air for a sustained period, he'd have to open the Seventh or Eighth Gate and use the Evening Elephant to kick out air cannons powerful enough to make even Uchiha Madara exclaim in delight.
But how had Rock Lee flown? And how had Sasuke and Naruto—who hadn't learned the Reverse Lotus or opened the Eight Inner Gates, but had used the Lion Combo and Naruto Combo—managed to fly?
It was simple: step on chakra.
Chakra had mass and weight.
The next instant,
under Ao's disbelieving gaze,
Hyuga Yu kicked off with both feet, burst through the bubble like a green arrow, and took flight!
(PS: The standard way for the Hyuga Clan to break out of a Water Prison is to release chakra from every tenketsu at once, like Neji did against Kisame. It's very simple, but Hyuga Yu's chakra control is extremely difficult in his Eight Inner Gates state, and chakra is precious, so he can't waste it like that. That's why he chose to use Taijutsu here.)
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