This Feels... a Bit Like Transmigration...

"That makes sense!"

Shuji nodded at Wenyan's words, saying with great admiration.

"What about you? Didn't your parents leave you with any tasks when they left?"

Mikoto adjusted her emotions and asked Shuji.

Beneath her expectant gaze was Mikoto's desperate hope to hear that someone else had it just as bad as she did.

"Ah... when my parents left, they told me to awaken my Byakugan."

Shuji shrugged as he spoke to Mikoto.

"Huh? That should be pretty difficult, right?"

Mikoto blinked, an involuntary smile already beginning to form on her lips.

Awakening a Kekkei Genkai was far more difficult than learning a Ninjutsu.

For some reason, Mikoto immediately felt much better.

"Yeah, it should be pretty difficult, right? But it doesn't matter. I awakened my Byakugan last year already, so..."

Shuji glanced sideways at Uchiha Mikoto and, sure enough, saw the instant her smile froze.

"By the way, Shuji-kun, I heard the Hyuga Clan is known as Konoha's number one taijutsu clan. Could I practice taijutsu with you?"

After adjusting her mindset, Mikoto forced a smile onto her face as she asked Hyuga Shuji.

She truly wanted to rest, but she also truly wanted to spar with Shuji.

Because Mikoto understood one thing clearly: she could rest anytime.

But she had no idea when she would next encounter a member of the Hyuga Clan.

Everyone wanted to slack off, but children born in the Shinobi World also genuinely thirsted for strength.

So much so that it could suppress their laziness.

"Ah... sure."

Shuji looked at Uchiha Mikoto, rose to his feet, and replied.

Making friends with someone from the Uchiha Clan certainly wouldn't be a problem.

After all, whether or not the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, those flames would never reach the Hyuga.

And if he built a good relationship with Mikoto, it would also lay the groundwork for his future encounters with Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi.

As he spoke, Shuji tucked his right hand behind his back and extended his other hand toward Uchiha Mikoto, palm facing up.

Of course, this wasn't because Shuji wanted to fight Uchiha Mikoto with one hand, nor was he offering to pull her up to show off his gentlemanly manners.

It was simply an opening stance Shuji liked.

"Thank you!"

Mikoto stood up, bowed to Shuji first, then assumed her stance.

The two faced off for a moment. Seeing that Shuji had no intention of attacking first, Mikoto immediately launched her assault.

She strode forward in long steps, suddenly accelerating. Just before reaching Hyuga Shuji, Uchiha Mikoto leaped into the air and threw a fierce downward punch at him.

This was Mikoto's favorite opening: use the greatest strength and fastest speed to put the most pressure on her opponent.

When practicing taijutsu with peers in her clan, regardless of whether they were male or female, their first reaction to such a punch was always to dodge.

And once they did, she could seize the initiative completely.

But to Uchiha Mikoto's surprise, Hyuga Shuji showed no intention of dodging at all.

Still, Mikoto wasn't too worried. The person before her was a genius of the Hyuga Clan, hailed as Konoha's strongest taijutsu clan!

Yes, in any Kekkei Genkai clan, someone who could awaken their Kekkei Genkai at such a young age was a genius!

Sure enough, Shuji moved.

As the hand extended in front of him swept to his side, he turned and stepped backward.

After Mikoto's punch missed and her body staggered uncontrollably toward Shuji, Shuji retreated at the same speed as her.

Once most of her momentum had naturally dissipated, Shuji seized the joint of Mikoto's arm with one hand while the hand behind his back struck her chest with an open palm.

"Bang!"

With a soft thud, Mikoto took a heavy blow to the chest and nearly instinctively staggered backward.

The force of her retreat also pulled against the hand Shuji was using to hold her wrist.

However, Shuji had no intention of holding Mikoto back with one hand.

The hand gripping the joint of Mikoto's arm loosened slightly, and Mikoto's body immediately shot backward.

Just as his hand slid to Mikoto's wrist, he suddenly clamped down.

The hand that had struck Mikoto's chest used the recoil to seize the joint of her arm as well.

With both hands exerting force at once, Shuji spun in place.

The instant the sensation of weightlessness rose, Uchiha Mikoto knew she was done for.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound rang out, and Mikoto instantly realized that her arm had probably been dislocated...

Along with the sound of the dislocation came the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.

"Bang!"

"Hoo..."

Watching Mikoto hit the ground in an over-the-shoulder throw, kicking up a cloud of dust, Shuji slowly exhaled and took two steps back, putting a safe distance between himself and Uchiha Mikoto.

He had washed his clothes yesterday, and Shuji had no intention of doing any ground fighting with anyone today.

"Cough... cough, cough!"

Uchiha Mikoto pushed herself up with one hand, blinking rapidly and repeatedly to ease the dizzy, disoriented feeling from being thrown so hard.

She had also taken a palm strike to the chest, leaving her breathing unsteady.

"You're strong."

The hand Shuji had grabbed earlier was now completely useless.

Helpless, Mikoto raised a thumbs-up toward Shuji with her other uninjured hand.

"You're strong... is this the Gentle Fist?"

It had only been a brief exchange, yet it had deeply shocked Mikoto.

So... taijutsu could be used like this?

"Mm... I guess so..."

Shuji pondered briefly before answering Uchiha Mikoto with some uncertainty.

It was the Gentle Fist, but not entirely.

Part of it came from the Nen Master's inheritance.

As a system that had developed over who knew how many years, the Nen Master system contained far too many combat techniques.

Aside from the deflect-and-counter and the over-the-shoulder throw Shuji had just used, there were techniques like borrowing force against force and adapting to the terrain.

One particularly representative technique was Sand Throw, which Street Fighters had developed into countless variations.

So Shuji didn't dare guarantee that if Mikoto encountered another Hyuga clansman at the Ninja Academy in the future, the Gentle Fist she faced would be the same as his.

"So, do you want to continue?"

After speaking, Shuji asked Mikoto again.

"No. I think my arm is dislocated."

Mikoto shook her head, clutching her arm as she spoke to Shuji.

After saying that, Mikoto seemed to think of something.

"Oh no, how am I supposed to practice Ninjutsu with a dislocated arm?"

Before Shuji could say anything, Mikoto rushed to continue.

"Perfect, then I don't have to practice!"

After saying that, Mikoto shot Shuji a mischievous glance, turned, and ran away.

"Huh? Hey!"

Shuji froze for a moment before suddenly realizing it. Good grief, was this girl dumping the problem on him?

And during that brief hesitation, Mikoto had already run far away.

Seeing that, Shuji didn't plan to chase after her. After all... compared to negotiating between the two clans...

Shuji believed Mikoto's parents would rather give Mikoto a beating.

"Hey!"

At that moment, Mikoto suddenly stopped, turned around, and shouted at Hyuga Shuji.

"Mm?"

Shuji looked toward Uchiha Mikoto.

"Can we meet again tomorrow?"

Mikoto looked at Shuji standing where he was and called out loudly.

They hadn't spent much time together, but Mikoto hoped they could continue tomorrow.

"Mm... that depends on whether my parents come back tonight."

Shuji chuckled softly as he answered Mikoto.

"Your parents definitely won't come back!"

With that, Mikoto turned around and ran home.

"Heh..."

Shuji chuckled at that and didn't take it to heart. He simply turned and headed toward the Hyuga residence.

With his hands behind his back, Shuji strolled leisurely down the road, his thoughts already drifting away.

It was a habit Shuji had developed in his previous life. Back then, Shuji had been a webnovel author.

He liked thinking about things while walking. Later, it developed into thinking about things while driving.

And then, next year, Shuji would be attending the Ninja Academy.

It was... happening pretty fast.

Now that he had mastered Nen Energy, all he needed to do was steadily accumulate it and practice controlling it.

He needed to advance to Mad Tiger Emperor as quickly as possible. It couldn't be helped; this world was the Shinobi World, not Suju on the Arad Continent.

There were no tattoo casters or the necessary materials here. Even Nen Tattoo, a forbidden technique, had not appeared in the inheritance.

That meant Shuji couldn't even take the shortcut of Nen Tattoo.

It was like wanting to spend his life force but having no way to do so.

And aside from cultivating Nen Energy, he couldn't neglect his Ninjutsu training either.

After all, the Hyuga Clan's potential ceiling was quite high.

Shuji also had no intention of giving up on the Tenseigan. Perhaps without the Nen Energy inheritance, Shuji, relying solely on the Eight Trigrams Palms, would have found it difficult to obtain the materials needed to create the Tenseigan from Otsutsuki Toneri.

But now that he possessed Nen Energy, defeating Toneri wouldn't be difficult.

Especially a Toneri without the Tenseigan.

In any case, he would definitely have to go to the moon. Between Shuji and Toneri, one of them would inevitably awaken the Tenseigan.

Therefore, Medical Ninjutsu became extremely important. How to use Toneri's blood to complete his own genes would become Shuji's main focus in the future.

"Hey! Move!"

At that moment, a furious shout suddenly rang out. Shuji instantly snapped back to his senses and instinctively looked toward the sound, only to see a green afterimage.

The next moment, Shuji felt as though he had been sent flying.

This feeling... was a little like when he transmigrated in his previous life...