Changes in Training

"I-I'm sorry..." Hyuga Hinata lowered her head, knowing her performance during training was terrible, even worse than when she practiced at home.

"No need to apologize," Uchiha Jie walked up to Hinata, crouched down, and said softly, "You've read Tsuki's scroll, so you know her Gentle Fist isn't the same style as your father's."

"And your father, his Gentle Fist is very powerful, but he's probably not a very good teacher." Uchiha Jie shook his head slightly, dismissing Hyuga Hiashi's teaching methods.

"Yes, I'm just too stupid." Hinata shook her head vigorously, she dared not speak ill of her father.

"No need to apologize," Uchiha Jie patted Hinata's shoulder, "Lift your head and spar with me. From now on, you'll be training with me."

Seeing Hinata still looking timid, Uchiha Jie couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Perhaps he should write to Tsuki and ask how Hyuga Hiashi treated Hinata on a daily basis.

This wasn't like a young lady at all, she was worse than a young lady's maid.

Hyuga Hinata tremblingly raised her hand and struck the Gentle Fist stance again.

"Come on," Uchiha Jie remained crouched, beckoning Hinata to attack with all her might.

Hinata didn't hesitate. She had sparred like this many times at home. Each time, she attacked first, and this time she followed her usual routine, sending a palm strike straight forward.

Usually, her father or other clan members she sparred with would lightly parry the strike, allowing her to proceed with her next move, her second, her third.

But Uchiha Jie also pushed out a palm, lightly.

"Slap!"

Two palms, one large and one small, met in the center.

Little Hinata channeled chakra to her acupoints, but it was meager. Uchiha Jie felt like someone was tickling his palm. He gripped, catching Hinata's hand.

"I-I'm sorry!" The moment her palm was caught, Hyuga Hinata stopped and started apologizing again.

"It's not over yet? Why did you stop?" Uchiha Jie held her hand and shook it gently, saying, "You still have your other hand."

"Um, please, please let go," Hyuga Hinata said softly, her face blushing.

"Hinata, if an enemy grabs your hand, they won't listen to your apologies, they'll just break it," Uchiha Jie shook his head and said, "Now, use your other hand."

Hinata let out a soft hum, and her other hand finally moved.

But neither hand could escape Uchiha Jie's grasp; her left hand was also caught.

"There are your feet too!" Uchiha Jie urged.

Hyuga Hinata kicked out again, but Gentle Fist didn't involve footwork. Uchiha Jie didn't even need to reach out; Hinata's little foot caused him no harm.

Hinata kicked until she was panting, and Uchiha Jie finally released her.

"That's more like it," Uchiha Jie stood up and looked down at Hinata, saying softly, "For your age, it's not bad, but it's limited by your age and the inherent drawbacks of Gentle Fist."

"Even though you've awakened your Byakugan, you don't have enough chakra to support it to see my meridians clearly. Although you can activate Gentle Fist, you can't win against someone who is taller, has a longer reach, and better taijutsu than you."

"The ninja sword your Sister Yue wears isn't just for show, and the contents of her scroll aren't some heretical teachings, but practical methods for dealing with these situations."

Uchiha Jie took Hinata's hand again, pulling her inside to her small desk, and opened the first page of the scroll.

He reached out, pointed to the words on the scroll, and said to Hinata, "Come, read it."

"When striking with Eight Trigrams Palm, channel chakra to your fingernails, changing palm to claw, palm to stab, catching them off guard," Hinata read softly.

"When you were striking palms with me just now, if you had known this variation, you could have forced me back," Uchiha Jie nodded and continued, "Come, try it."

Hyuga Hinata extended her right hand, concentrating hard to guide chakra from her palm to her fingertips. Sweat beaded on her forehead before the chakra barely covered the tip of her right index finger.

It was like igniting a small white flame with her fingertip.

Uchiha Jie took out a wooden board and gestured for Hinata to stab it. With a "pop," the wooden board was pierced by Hinata's finger.

"Ah!" Hinata looked at her finger, then at the wooden board, and cried out in surprise.

She often encountered these wooden boards at home. Her father used them to train her, demanding she break the board in half with a single palm strike. She could do it, but never this easily.

"But my chakra..." After a brief moment of excitement, Hinata became dejected again. Just that one finger had used up most of her chakra. Even without the previous practice, she could only manage two such strikes at most.

"For your age, it's already very good."

Uchiha Jie smiled, but his left hand cautiously scratched his palm. He had been poked by such a finger once. Hyuga Yue had poked him directly in the palm, leaving a small bloody hole. Even though many years had passed, the memory still gave him a slight shadow.

Seeing Hyuga Hinata wanting to refine more chakra and continue training, he patted her shoulder and stopped her, "Go wash up simply and change your clothes. You haven't had breakfast yet."

The hot spring in the small courtyard had little obstruction, but there were separate bathrooms nearby. Hinata washed off the sweat and changed into a light purple dress that had been prepared long ago. She then knelt on the tatami mat.

A large table filled with various rich foods was laid out before her, leaving her unsure where to start.

While she was contemplating, Uchiha Jie had already begun eating. He grabbed a steaming bun and tilted his head.

"Eat? Is it not to your liking?" he asked.

"C-can I eat it all?" Hinata asked softly, lowering her head.

She had never seen such a lavish breakfast at home. Many times, if her morning training wasn't good enough, her father would make her go to school on an empty stomach.

"I bought it for you to eat," Uchiha Jie blinked and pushed the plates towards Hinata, saying, "A young ninja like you is at a crucial stage for refining chakra, so you should eat as much as you can."

"The Hyuga clan's chakra is not abundant to begin with, and you're still in the process of awakening your Byakugan. If your diet doesn't keep up now, it will affect your growth in strength."

"I prepared this based on your Sister Yue's appetite when she was younger. You're from the Main Family, so you should eat even more than she did."

"Eating more will make awakening your Byakugan more comfortable."