Ninja Academy, afternoon.
Several classes occupied separate areas of the Training Ground.
In Class 9's area, their instructor, Sarutobi Retsu, was arranging one-on-one matches.
Just as he called Hyuga Kagami's name, he was suddenly interrupted.
Hyuga Kagami stepped out of the line and said, "Retsu-sensei, I want to spar with Uchiha Yuan this time."
Hearing that, Sarutobi Retsu turned his gaze toward Uchiha Yuan, who stood among the onlookers.
Uchiha Yuan stepped forward with a smile. "Retsu-sensei, I have no objections. I'd also like to experience the power of the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist."
Sarutobi Retsu nodded. "All right, then this match will be Hyuga Kagami versus Uchiha Yuan. Prepare yourselves."
"Form the Seal of Confrontation."
Uchiha Yuan and Hyuga Kagami stood facing each other several meters apart. Forming the Seal of Confrontation, he said, "Kagami, use your full strength."
Hyuga Kagami's expression turned solemn. "Don't worry. I won't hold back."
Their match drew everyone's attention. Even students from the two neighboring classes quietly turned to watch.
This was a clash between the Uchiha and the Hyuga. They absolutely could not miss it.
Generally speaking, instructors would not arrange one-on-one matches between students from major clans.
Such matches could provoke conflicts. The great clans had always competed with one another openly and in secret, and none of them would yield to the others.
Sometimes, even a trivial matter could easily grow into a major dispute when a clan's reputation was involved.
"Begin."
As Sarutobi Retsu's voice fell, Uchiha Yuan launched the first attack.
He leaped high into the air and flipped midair. With the sound of the air exploding beneath his kick, a fierce roundhouse whipped toward Hyuga Kagami.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
Hyuga Kagami nimbly sprang backward. After evading the kick, he thrust out a palm in return.
Boom!
The Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm was shattered by the kick, unleashing a powerful gust of wind that swept outward in every direction.
Uchiha Yuan did not let up, sweeping a barrage of leg shadows toward Hyuga Kagami.
"Eight Trigrams—Two Palms!"
"Four Palms!"
"Eight Palms!"
"Sixteen Palms!"
"Thirty-Two Palms!"
Hyuga Kagami calmly unleashed palm strikes one after another, blocking every incoming leg shadow.
With a tap of his foot, Uchiha Yuan rose lightly into the air like a bird and drifted backward, widening the distance between himself and Hyuga Kagami.
"What incredible Taijutsu. Did you see how many kicks he threw just now?"
"I think it was eighteen."
"No, it should've been twenty-one."
"I only counted nineteen."
The Class 9 students watching nearby were both astonished and shaken.
There had been no probing between the two. Their fight had been intense from the very start, and the earlier matches were simply on a completely different level from this one.
Uehara Isami stared darkly at Uchiha Yuan, a disdainful expression on his face.
So what if his Taijutsu is strong? Ninjutsu is what matters most for a ninja. He has far less Chakra than Hyuga Kagami.
Elsewhere, Senju Gen stared fervently at Uchiha Yuan, his eyes filled with intense battle intent.
He had seen it clearly. Uchiha Yuan had thrown twenty-eight kicks just now.
"Byakugan, activate!"
Veins bulged around Hyuga Kagami's eyes. Then his figure flashed as he charged toward Uchiha Yuan.
He first sent out a Vacuum Palm, its powerful palm wind rushing at Uchiha Yuan.
Uchiha Yuan swung his hand like a blade and chopped downward, splitting the palm wind apart.
At the same time, Hyuga Kagami appeared before him and forcefully thrust both palms forward.
"Eight Trigrams—Thirty-Two Palms!"
In an instant, dozens of Vacuum Palm strikes shot toward Uchiha Yuan's entire body.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A dense series of impacts erupted from Uchiha Yuan's body.
Sarutobi Retsu, watching from nearby, changed expression. If Uchiha Yuan had taken the full force of the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms, he could be seriously injured.
But just as he was about to intervene and stop the match, Uchiha Yuan suddenly moved. With what seemed like a mere blur, he appeared in front of Hyuga Kagami.
He extended his right hand and struck Hyuga Kagami in the chest with two fingers held together like a sword.
Then Uchiha Yuan withdrew his right hand and performed a backflip, landing several meters away.
Hyuga Kagami's body immediately stiffened.
Several minutes later, Hyuga Kagami coughed a few times, then deactivated his Byakugan and said to Uchiha Yuan with a complicated expression, "I lost."
After forming the Seal of Reconciliation, Uchiha Yuan said, "Kagami, thank you for letting me win."
Hyuga Kagami stared deeply at Uchiha Yuan. After a moment of silence, he turned and stepped away.
He understood clearly that, during their exchange, he had not even managed to force Uchiha Yuan to use his full strength.
Moreover, Uchiha Yuan's strength was likely far greater than he had expected.
When he had used the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms, he had seen Uchiha Yuan's Chakra through his Byakugan.
Why was the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist renowned throughout the Ninja World? Because, combined with the Byakugan, it could interrupt and scatter the flow of Chakra within an opponent's body.
Yet just now, in Hyuga Kagami's Byakugan vision, Uchiha Yuan's Chakra had resembled a motionless blazing fire. It had not flowed or circulated through his body at all.
In other words, Uchiha Yuan had taken the full force of the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms purely with his body.
That proved his body was far tougher than Hyuga Kagami had imagined.
What surprised Hyuga Kagami even more was Uchiha Yuan's final finger strike.
When those sword-like fingers struck his chest, Hyuga Kagami felt his entire body go numb, and he instantly lost all sensation.
He immediately realized that Uchiha Yuan's finger strike seemed to share the same underlying principle as the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, both targeting the body's acupoints and meridians.
Sarutobi Retsu secretly sighed in relief. Good. It seems Hyuga Kagami's current Chakra isn't enough to use the Gentle Fist at its full power.
Just as Sarutobi Retsu was about to arrange the next match, Senju Gen stepped forward.
He said to Sarutobi Retsu, "Retsu-sensei, I also want to spar with Uchiha Yuan."
A contest between the Senju and the Uchiha?
Looking at Senju Gen, Sarutobi Retsu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Gen, Yuan has already fought one match. Choose another opponent."
Senju Gen looked at Uchiha Yuan and said, "Yuan, are you willing to fight me?"
Uchiha Yuan shook his head with a regretful expression. "Sorry. After fighting Kagami, I no longer have the strength for a second match."
Senju Gen was currently first in Class 9 and also ranked among the top five students in the entire grade.
He had likely already attracted the village's attention. Thus, Uchiha Yuan usually had almost no contact with Senju Gen, and they were merely ordinary classmates.
Once the two fought, victory might draw the village's attention, while defeat might bring reprimands from his clan.
Neither outcome would benefit Uchiha Yuan, so he did not hesitate to refuse Senju Gen's challenge.
Back among the crowd, Hyuga Kagami looked at Uchiha Yuan with some confusion. In his eyes, neither Uchiha Yuan's physical condition nor his Chakra had been affected by their fight.
He did not understand why Uchiha Yuan had refused Senju Gen's challenge.
In Hyuga Kagami's view, Uchiha Yuan's physical strength was not inferior to Senju Gen's in the slightest.
After hearing Uchiha Yuan's answer, Senju Gen showed obvious disappointment. However, he soon smiled. "Yuan, then let's spar another time."
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