A Parting Gift

"Hyuga Xiaoxiang, Hyuga Yiquan, Hyuga Erquan?"

Chiba frowned slightly at the three youths who had barged in without any sense of boundaries.

Hyuga Xiaoxiang was the son of Hyuga Daxuang, a Main Family Elder of the Hyuga Clan. Naturally, he too belonged to the Main Family.

Hyuga Yiquan and Hyuga Erquan were Branch Family brothers who had always followed Hyuga Xiaoxiang around.

Perhaps because Chiba had neither been branded with the "Caged Bird" like the other Branch Family members nor served the Main Family like a slave, Hyuga Xiaoxiang had been unhappy with him lately and came looking for trouble every now and then.

Although Hyuga Xiaoxiang was wary of Hyuga Hiashi and did not dare go too far, his past actions toward Hyuga Chiba already counted as bullying.

Chiba had only tolerated it because his eyes had not fully developed yet and the Tenseigan had not truly awakened.

"But now..."

Quickly regaining his composure, Chiba instead wore a meaningful smile. "Well, looks like I don't have to wait until tonight."

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

"Consider it... a parting gift."

It was also a perfect opportunity to conduct a preliminary test of his current strength.

"Hyuga Chiba, how..."

At the same time, Hyuga Xiaoxiang, who had come intending to bully Chiba, noticed the change in his eyes. His face immediately filled with shock. "Weren't you born blind? Why do you have a complete pair of Byakugan?"

"Haha!" After his surprise, Hyuga Xiaoxiang's expression instead turned excited. "Hyuga Chiba, you're finished."

"You actually dared deceive the entire clan, pretend to be blind, and evade the Branch Family's duties?"

"Yiquan, Erquan, hurry and seize him. I'm taking him to see the Clan Head and the Main Family Elders."

"I'll watch him get branded with the 'Caged Bird' and make him my slave forever."

"Chiba, sorry for the trouble!" Upon hearing Hyuga Xiaoxiang's words, Hyuga Yiquan and Hyuga Erquan grinned viciously and reached for Chiba from both sides.

The two of them were also 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 whether his own Byakugan was somehow special, Hyuga Yiquan and Hyuga Erquan's movements appeared to Chiba as though they had been slowed down, allowing him to evade them with ease.

Then, taking advantage of the motion, Chiba struck Hyuga Yiquan and Hyuga Erquan with a palm each.

"Ah!"

"Ah!"

In the next instant, Hyuga Yiquan and Hyuga Erquan cried out simultaneously as their bodies flew backward, crashed into the wall, and fell unconscious.

"Youth really is wonderful. Hit the ground and you're asleep."

Ignoring Hyuga Yiquan and Hyuga Erquan, who could no longer rise from the ground, Chiba stepped toward Hyuga Xiaoxiang.

"H-how did this happen?"

Hyuga Xiaoxiang was dumbfounded. He had never expected his two lackeys to be so utterly helpless before Chiba.

Now that he saw Chiba walking toward him step by step, he instinctively felt afraid. He unconsciously backed away while shouting, "Y-you, what are you doing?"

"I'm warning you, I'm the son of a Main Family Elder. I'm Main Family! If you dare do anything to me, the clan won't let you off!"

Chiba turned a deaf ear to him. With an inexplicable smile at the corner of his lips, he continued advancing toward Hyuga Xiaoxiang, one step after another.

"Ah!"

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

For some reason, the closer Chiba came, the stronger the fear in Hyuga Xiaoxiang's heart grew.

Before long, he could not bear it any longer. He turned and ran outside, shouting as he fled, "Someone, come quickly! Help!"

"Hyuga Chiba has gone crazy! He wants to kill me! He wants to kill a Main Family member!"

Such loud shouting naturally drew the attention of many Hyuga clansmen.

Chiba paid them no mind. He slowly stepped out of his home and looked upon the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings.

In truth, because his Byakugan had gradually developed as he grew up, he had actually been able to see his surroundings before.

The cloth covering his eyes had merely been for show. It had little meaning to a Byakugan capable of seeing through things.

Still, being able to open his eyes and see the world directly like this made Chiba very happy.

Unfortunately, reality did not permit him to quietly admire his surroundings.

"Hyuga Chiba?"

"Wasn't he born blind? Why does he have a pair of Byakugan?"

"Could it be that he had been pretending to be blind all along to avoid being branded with the Caged Bird Curse Mark?"

"Impossible. The Main Family aren't fools. It was precisely because he had no eyes from the moment he was born that they didn't brand him with the Caged Bird."

"Then don't tell me his eyes grew back?"

"No matter what, it looks like Hyuga Xiaoxiang discovered that he has Byakugan. It probably won't be long before the Main Family brands him with the Caged Bird."

The surrounding Hyuga Branch Family members were all immensely shocked when they saw Chiba's eyes.

After recovering from their shock, quite a few of them felt regretful.

If Chiba could truly keep his Byakugan hidden and avoid being branded with the Caged Bird, then the Hyuga Branch Family would finally have a bird not trapped in a cage, one that could soar freely.

"What are you trash standing around for?"

"Why aren't you seizing that detestable Hyuga Chiba already?"

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

At that moment, Hyuga Xiaoxiang, who had already fled into the crowd, seemed to believe himself safe. He immediately berated the surrounding Hyuga Branch Family members with the authority of the Main Family.

"Damn it!"

"If he weren't Main Family..."

The Hyuga Branch Family members wore grim expressions, yet they had no choice but to reach for Chiba.

However...

"Byakugan, activate!"

As veins bulged around Chiba's eyes, a Tai Chi Sixty-Four Trigrams pattern visible only to him rapidly spread outward from his body.

Then...

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

Chiba moved like a phantom, attacking one Hyuga Branch Family member after another who approached him at astonishing speed.

Those Branch Family members collapsed after having their acupoints sealed, temporarily unable to move.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms?"

The remaining Hyuga Branch Family members, along with Hyuga Xiaoxiang, were all utterly shocked. "How is that possible?"

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

"How could Chiba, a Branch Family member, learn it?"

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

In truth, Hyuga Xiaoxiang and the others did not know that Chiba's talent was far greater than even he himself, let alone everyone else, had imagined—and it would continue growing stronger with age.

Even though he had not trained much ordinarily, merely observing the other Hyuga clansmen training had been enough for him to learn quite a few ninjutsu and possess considerable combat strength.