"Today's taijutsu class will be held on the training grounds. Everyone, gather there!"
Iruka entered the classroom looking worried and made the announcement to the students of the Elite Class.
The tiered classroom erupted. Naruto clutched his head and wailed. The words "taijutsu class" reminded him of the Third Hokage's lessons. He'd taken the worst beating of his life, and taijutsu still made him nervous.
"Hmph!"
Uchiha Sasuke stood up, looking cocky, and shot Fuyuki a challenging glance. His cheeks flushed with excitement. He'd never forgotten how badly Fuyuki had beaten him during their first taijutsu class at the Ninja Academy. But he'd gotten stronger after training with his Nii-chan!
Today, he'd finally get his revenge and grind that insufferably smug Fuyuki into the dirt!
But Fuyuki didn't even spare Sasuke's challenge a glance. Instead, he placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder, his expression serious, and said, "Hinata, don't hold back later. If you lose at home, your Hyuga relatives will just praise you more. But if you lose to an ordinary person at the Ninja Academy, your father will smash your skull in!"
"Remember: a good horse gets ridden, and a kind person becomes someone's wife!"
"But..." Hinata looked conflicted and hesitantly spoke up. "I'm afraid I'll kill a classmate..."
The classmates who heard her: "..."
Hinata had delivered a terrifying threat in the gentlest voice imaginable. It didn't stir their competitive spirit; if anything, they completely agreed with her.
Hinata had already mastered the Gentle Fist Technique. If she accidentally damaged a classmate's internal organs, she really could kill them. And the Ninja Academy's medical resources were surely inferior to her clan's. If someone was badly hurt, there might not even be enough time to get them to the hospital.
She didn't dare use much force even within her clan. Now that she was at the Ninja Academy, with its limited medical resources, she was even more afraid to fight.
"Don't worry. I have a medical Summoned Beast that can treat badly injured classmates. I guarantee I can get them to the hospital!" Fuyuki walked alongside Hinata. "If practicing the Gentle Fist can't make those muscle-bound tough guys sit down calmly and listen to our twisted logic, then the Gentle Fist Technique is meaningless!"
"Hyuga Fuyuki, Uchiha Sasuke, step forward," Iruka said, looking thoroughly disheartened.
Those two never cared what class the Ninja Academy was holding that day when they fought. Kunai, Shuriken, and ninjutsu all came flying in every direction. Even an ordinary Chunin would have a hard time restraining these two heirs of the great clans without using ninjutsu or ninja tools.
The Uchiha Clan's ninjutsu, ninja tools, and taijutsu didn't have any particular trait besides being flashy. Their ninja tools could strike in one direction while seeming to aim in another, and they even had hidden surprises. Even Chunins could hardly spot where the Uchiha had concealed them!
There wasn't anything especially dangerous about the Hyuga Clan's ninja tools or ninjutsu. The problem was that you had to be extremely careful when stopping a member of the Hyuga Clan. Those bastards could release Gentle Fist chakra from anywhere on their bodies. One careless blow to the internal organs, and a teacher could end up dying at a student's hands.
So Iruka had a terrible headache. The class wasn't made up of just Uchiha and Hyuga students; there were also heirs from other Secret Technique Clans. If they'd learned some new trick at home and came to show off at the Ninja Academy, Iruka was the one who'd suffer!
The situation on the field unfolded just as Iruka had expected. Sasuke was losing the taijutsu match, and Fuyuki was about to knock him out with ease. The little rabbit panicked, leaping backward several times to put distance between them. He swiftly formed Hand Seals, took a deep breath, and cried, "Fire Release: Great Fireball!"
Sasuke didn't have enough chakra to perform the full Great Fireball Technique yet. He couldn't spit out a fireball three or four meters across, but he could manage one that was a meter wide!
"Wow, Sasuke's so cool!"
"Way to go, Sasuke-kun! You're amazing!"
The handsome rabbit's ninjutsu immediately won the girls' admiration. They cheered wildly for Sasuke!
"..."
Fuyuki looked speechless. He didn't even bother making the token Hand Seals. He simply stepped back to avoid the Great Fireball, then calmly walked around the fireball fixed in place. As Sasuke stared in horror, Fuyuki kicked him flying. "Did you learn Fire Release by eating vegetarian meals and praying at a temple? This kind of Fire Release couldn't kill a single normal person!"
As the Uchiha Clan's signature technique, the Great Fireball should have been four or five meters across after being spat out, like a speeding train crushing the enemy into charred remains. Sasuke's fire was one thing, but he couldn't even release it from his mouth!
Do you hear that? Your Ancestor is crying! That Battlefield Rose was the Ancestor of your Uchiha Clan!
"Damn it..."
Sasuke looked furious, but he'd nearly exhausted his chakra and stamina. He couldn't keep fighting Fuyuki!
Seeing that neither of them was hurt, Iruka-sensei breathed a sigh of relief. "Next pair, step forward. Hinata and Naruto."
"Naruto-kun, please go easy on me."
Seeing that her opponent was Naruto, Hinata secretly let out a sigh of relief.
She, her younger brother, and Naruto had all received taijutsu training from the Third Hokage, so Hinata knew all about Naruto's inability to be killed. If she fought Naruto, she didn't have to worry about killing him with a single Gentle Fist strike.
Unlike Hinata, who had relaxed, Naruto was sweating profusely as he watched her like a formidable enemy.
Hinata's punches hurt so much—worse than falling out of a tree. And the pain lasted twice as long. She was terrifying!
He really didn't want to take a punch from Hinata.
"Fuyuki..."
On the training grounds, Hinata chased the blond fox around until he was in a panic. Fuyuki sat in the shade of a tree, drinking tea brewed by a maid. Sakura's voice came from behind him. He turned around, puzzled. "What is it?"
"Um..." Sakura looked embarrassed. "You're the best at taijutsu in the whole Ninja Academy. Could you teach me?"
"Please, Fuyuki. This is all the pocket money I have for the month. I'll give it all to you."
Fuyuki stared at the money in Sakura's hand, then shook his head helplessly. "Put it away. I'm not robbing kids. Teaching you a little taijutsu is no big deal. Think of it as classmates helping each other out!"
Take your money? I'd pay you to get stronger as soon as possible, beat Sasuke, and give me an Uchiha Sarada to play with!
"Really?" Sakura's face lit up.
"What would I lie to you for? To a Hyuga Clan ninja, money is just a number." Fuyuki smiled. "Ordinary taijutsu doesn't suit girls. How about I teach you a more difficult form of Nintaijutsu? You'll have to be mentally prepared!"
What Fuyuki taught couldn't really be called Nintaijutsu. He was simply teaching Sakura to gather chakra in the limbs she used to exert force.
It was a chakra-control technique taught to Chunin. By concentrating chakra in a limb, you could greatly increase its strength. If the chakra was concentrated enough, you could even break through ninjutsu.
This technique could be developed into the Gentle Fist Technique or Tsunade's Strength Enhancement Fist.
For ordinary ninja, trying to master either one was practically a death sentence. They could even lose the ability to be ninja.
Both the Gentle Fist Technique and the Strength Enhancement Fist involved the use of Yang-Style Chakra. Concentrate too much highly refined chakra in a fist, and one careless mistake could leave you without your left or right arm!
"Nii-chan!"
After class, Sasuke hurried out of the Ninja Academy again and threw himself excitedly into Itachi's arms.
"Sasuke." Itachi smiled, which was rare. He was just about to reach out and poke his adorable little brother when he suddenly heard a man's strangely accented voice beside him: "Chidori!"
After teasing the Uchiha brothers, Fuyuki left the school with Hinata, holding her hand.
The Uchiha brothers remained frozen in place, staring at each other with conflicted expressions.
"Nii-chan!"
Itachi: "..."
Poke him! It's unlucky!
Don't poke him! The rabbit's getting mad!
Hyuga kids weren't cute at all.
Before you continue