A Parting Gift

"Hyuga Xiaoxiang, Hyuga Yiquan, Hyuga Erquan?"

Watching the three youths barge in with absolutely no sense of boundaries, Chiba frowned slightly.

Hyuga Xiaoxiang was the son of Hyuga Daxuang, an elder of the Main Family, so naturally, he was a member of the Main Family himself.

Hyuga Yiquan and Hyuga Erquan were brothers from the Branch Family who always followed at Hyuga Xiaoxiang's side.

Lately, perhaps because he saw that Chiba hadn't been branded with the "Caged Bird" like other Branch Family members, nor was he serving the Main Family like a slave, Hyuga Xiaoxiang had been feeling disgruntled and would come to cause him trouble from time to time.

Although Hyuga Xiaoxiang was wary of Hyuga Hiashi and didn't dare to go too far, his past actions toward Hyuga Chiba already counted as bullying.

It was only because his eyes hadn't fully healed yet and his Tenseigan hadn't truly awakened that Chiba had chosen to endure it.

"But now..."

Quickly snapping back to his senses, Chiba instead wore a meaningful smile. "Well, it seems I won't have to wait until tonight after all."

"Fine. Since I'm leaving the village, I might as well stir up a little trouble."

"Consider it... a parting gift."

It was perfect timing; he could take this opportunity to conduct a preliminary test of his current strength.

"Hyuga Chiba, how did you..."

At the same time, Hyuga Xiaoxiang, who had intended to bully Chiba, noticed the change in his eyes and was suddenly filled with astonishment. "Aren't you blind from birth? Why do you have a pair of complete Byakugan?"

"Haha!" Beyond his surprise, Hyuga Xiaoxiang's expression began to turn excited. "Hyuga Chiba, you're finished."

"You dare to deceive the entire clan, feigning blindness to evade the duties of the Branch Family?"

"Yiquan, Erquan, hurry up and grab him! I'm going to take him to see the Clan Head and the Main Family Elders."

"I want him to have the 'Caged Bird' branded on him right in front of me, and be my slave forever."

"Chiba, sorry about this!" Upon hearing Hyuga Xiaoxiang's words, Hyuga Yiquan and Hyuga Erquan let out sinister laughs and lunged at Chiba from the left and right simultaneously.

They, too, were looking forward to seeing Chiba branded with the Caged Bird Curse Mark just like them!

"Too slow!"

Whether it was an inherent effect of the Byakugan or because his own Byakugan was somewhat special, in Chiba's eyes, the movements of Hyuga Yiquan and Hyuga Erquan seemed to be in slow motion, and he dodged them with ease.

Following that, Chiba took the opportunity to strike both Hyuga Yiquan and Hyuga Erquan with his palms.

"Ah!"

"Ah!"

The next moment, Hyuga Yiquan and Hyuga Erquan screamed in unison. Their bodies flew backward, slamming into the wall before they slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Youth is a wonderful thing; they fall asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow."

Chiba ignored the two fallen figures and stepped toward Hyuga Xiaoxiang.

"H-how could this be?"

Hyuga Xiaoxiang was stunned. He hadn't expected his two lackeys to be so incredibly fragile in front of Chiba.

Seeing Chiba walking toward him step by step, he felt a surge of instinctive fear. He retreated unconsciously, shouting, "Y-you, what are you doing?"

"I'm warning you, I am the son of a Main Family elder! I am of the Main Family! If you dare to do anything to me, the clan won't let you get away with it."

Chiba turned a deaf ear to this, a mysterious smile playing on his lips as he continued to close the distance.

"Ah!"

"Don't come any closer! Stay away!"

For some reason, as Chiba drew nearer, the fear in Hyuga Xiaoxiang's heart grew increasingly intense.

Soon, he couldn't take it anymore. He turned and bolted toward the exit, screaming as he ran, "Someone help! Save me!"

"Hyuga Chiba has gone mad! He's trying to kill me! He's trying to kill the Main Family!"

Such shouts naturally drew the attention of many Hyuga clansmen.

Chiba didn't pay them any mind. He walked out of his home, taking in the surroundings that felt both familiar and strange.

In truth, because his Byakugan had developed gradually as he grew up, he had actually been able to see his environment all along.

The cloth wrapped around his eyes was merely a ruse to deceive others; for the Byakugan, which possessed X-ray vision, it held no real significance.

Still, being able to open his eyes and look at the world directly like this made Chiba feel quite happy.

Unfortunately, reality would not allow him to enjoy the scenery in peace.

"Hyuga Chiba?"

"Isn't he blind from birth? Why does he have a pair of Byakugan?"

"Could it be that he's been pretending to be blind all this time just to avoid being branded with the Caged Bird Curse Mark?"

"Impossible. The people of the Main Family aren't fools. It was precisely because he was born without eyes that they didn't place the Caged Bird on him."

"Then it's not like his eyes could have just grown back, could they?"

Regardless, it seemed that Hyuga Xiaoxiang had discovered his Byakugan. It likely wouldn't be long before the Main Family branded him with the Caged Bird seal.

The surrounding members of the Hyuga Branch Family were filled with immense astonishment upon seeing Chiba's eyes.

Once they regained their composure, many of them felt a sense of regret.

If Chiba could truly remain undiscovered and avoid being branded with the Caged Bird, then the Hyuga Branch Family would finally have a bird that wasn't locked in a cage—a bird capable of soaring freely.

"What are you useless trash just standing there for?"

"Why haven't you captured this detestable guy, Hyuga Chiba, yet?"

"Do you want to be punished by the Caged Bird?"

At this moment, Hyuga Xiaoxiang, who had already retreated into the crowd, seemed to believe he was safe. He immediately barked orders at the surrounding Branch Family members, asserting his status as a member of the Main Family.

"Damn it!"

"If only he weren't from the Main Family..."

The expressions of the Branch Family members turned ugly, yet they were forced to move toward Chiba to apprehend him.

However...

"Byakugan, activate!"

As the veins around his eyes bulged, a Tai Chi Sixty-Four Trigrams pattern, visible only to him, rapidly expanded with him at its center.

Then...

"Gentle Fist Style: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Chiba moved like a ghost, striking one Branch Family member after another as they approached him with blinding speed.

These Branch Family members collapsed one by one, unable to rise after having their pressure points struck.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms?"

The remaining Branch Family members and Hyuga Xiaoxiang were all struck with shock: "How is this possible?"

"Isn't that a technique only the Main Family is qualified to learn?"

"Why is Chiba, a member of the Branch Family, able to use it?"

"And with so many of us here, how has not a single one of us ever seen him train?"

In truth, Hyuga Xiaoxiang and the others did not know that Chiba's talent was far greater than he himself—or anyone else—had ever imagined, and it was the type that continued to grow as he aged.

Even though he rarely practiced, his observations of other Hyuga clansmen during their training were enough for him to master many ninjutsu techniques and possess formidable combat strength.