Dai and Hyuga Hane

Several days later, Hyuga Hane once again created three Shadow Clones and assigned each one a task.

One conducted experiments underground, another trained in ninjutsu at the underground training ground.

The last studied the various kinds of knowledge he had collected.

Three Shadow Clones was the ideal number, as he had confirmed through years of testing. Any more, and the accumulated fatigue would severely diminish his training efficiency the next day.

Meanwhile, Hyuga Hane's real body went into the forest and began training in Taijutsu.

Shadow Clones could only share their experience with him; they couldn't strengthen his body. If he wanted to open the next gate of the Eight Inner Gates, he had to improve his body himself.

His training method was Master Dai's self-imposed regimen.

The man had nearly kicked his way to the end of the story, so his training methods had to have their merits. Besides, Hane wasn't going to shout like Guy did, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

"Hane! You're training without any spirit!"

As Hyuga Hane did one-handed push-ups, sweat pouring off him, a booming shout rang out alongside a rush of air.

Hane reacted instantly, pushing off with his hand and feet and darting several meters backward, narrowly avoiding the fierce kick.

"Guy, warning your opponent before you attack is a bad habit."

Hyuga Hane looked toward the spot where he had just been standing. A man in a green, form-fitting suit

stood there.

"It could cost you your life on the battlefield."

"He's right, Guy. You need to know when to burn with youthful passion. You can't let your guard down on the battlefield."

Might Duy, who was also dressed in a form-fitting suit and had thick eyebrows, emerged from behind a tree. He folded his arms and nodded solemnly.

Ignoring the green suits he and his son were wearing, one might have thought he was seriously lecturing his child rather than charging headlong down some bizarre track.

"I understand, Father." Guy grinned and raised a thumb toward Duy. "Youth must never know defeat!"

"Guy!"

Duy gazed at his son, tears welling in his eyes. "Well said! For the sake of youth, we'll run ten laps around Konoha today, too!"

"Right!"

Hyuga Hane looked at the two of them with an indescribable expression and rubbed his forehead helplessly.

In Konoha, these two were sometimes the hardest people for him to communicate with.

They were just too fired up.

Still, they were surprisingly easy to get along with.

With a smile, Hyuga Hane asked, "Master, you didn't come here just to train, did you?"

"No." Duy held up a finger and wagged it from side to side. "We came here for training."

"You've been back for nearly half a year, and neither Guy nor I have seen you come here once. We need to check whether your skills have gotten rusty. Guy!"

Flashing his pearly white teeth, Might Guy turned toward Hane once more and struck a fighting stance.

"Let's have a passionate battle!"

Hyuga Hane narrowed his eyes. "Guy, I'm a Special Jonin now, and I recently submitted my application for the Jonin exam to Lord Hokage.

"Kakashi, the rival you acknowledge, became a Jonin ages ago.

"You haven't kept up with us. If you want to fight us, you'll have to become a Jonin first."

Guy paused, dropped his stance, and nodded in agreement.

"That's true. Challenging a Jonin gets my blood pumping, but without the proper rank, I can't expect you to acknowledge me, can I?"

"Good. I'll become a Jonin as soon as possible. When I do, you can't refuse my challenge."

"Run ten laps around the village first. You can't stop once along the way, or you'll have to run twenty."

Duy watched as Hane talked Guy into training with just a few words, then fell silent.

He really was good at handling Guy.

"Master Duy, I'm sorry. Something happened in the clan earlier, and I didn't want to drag you into it," Hane said apologetically as he walked over to Might Duy.

"Ah, you mean the Hyuga clan member who was killed?"

Might Duy scratched his head. He stopped paying attention to his son, who was burning with youthful passion, and asked in confusion,

"I heard from the higher-ups that a spy from another country did it?"

Hyuga Hane shook his head. "It's complicated. Lord Hokage is personally looking into it."

Might Duy immediately understood and stopped asking about it. Instead, he smiled and said, "You're about to be promoted to Jonin. Keep working hard from now on!"

There was no hint that he worried Hane might fail the exam.

A fifteen-year-old Special Jonin was nothing like an eternal Genin like him. Might Duy knew that Hyuga Hane would become a Jonin sooner or later.

"It's all thanks to your guidance, Master." Hyuga Hane smiled.

"What could a Genin who can't use ninjutsu teach you?"

Duy shook his head, looking pleased. "You and Guy have both surpassed me."

"Not in strength, though," Hyuga Hane said.

Konoha's Genin had always been its strongest.

Especially the ones who had gone years without being promoted to Chunin—they were the most absurd of all.

As things stood, only Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Namikaze Minato, and Duy could pose a lethal threat to him in a fight.

No one else, not even the Third Hokage, who was known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, was dangerous to him.

After all, he knew the trump cards and abilities of Konoha's powerful ninja.

And they... knew nothing about his.

"If the village's Chunin exams didn't demand a certain level of ability in every aspect, you wouldn't have been a Genin all this time, Master." Hyuga Hane meant every word.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen must have been cursing about that before they died, too.

Only Konoha could have a Genin powerful enough to kill a Kage.

"Ha ha ha! It makes me happy to hear my student praise me, but I really do have a lot of shortcomings. The Eight Inner Gates are, after all, a forbidden technique."

Duy laughed heartily, flashing teeth that shone just like Guy's. "Good luck on your Jonin exam. Don't lose because you let your guard down. I'll prepare the very best gift to celebrate."

Hyuga Hane gave Duy's skintight suit a look that was hard to describe and forced a smile. "Thank you, Master."

He hoped it wasn't what he thought it was.

"All right, enough chatting. You sent Guy away because you wanted me to train you personally, didn't you?"

Duy put one hand behind his back and beckoned Hane to fight. "Come on. Let's have a passionate, youthful battle."

Hyuga Hane's gaze sharpened. Green chakra flared around his body.

If he was going to become a Jonin, there were some things he didn't need to keep hidden.

As long as he kept his abilities within a controllable range, the Third Hokage wouldn't target someone from the Hyuga Branch Family. Besides, the Fourth Hokage was in power now, and the Third wouldn't interfere unless it was necessary.

"You can already open the Gate of Limit?"

Duy's expression grew serious, and green chakra flared around him as well.

"Looks like this will be a passionate battle."

As soon as he finished speaking, Duy and Hyuga Hane locked eyes and vanished from where they stood.

The forest soon rang with the sound of fierce collisions. The force of their blows snapped trees even when it merely grazed them.

Before long, the forest had been reduced to a dreadful mess by the two of them.

Hyuga Hane carefully used his Byakugan to observe and record Duy's movements. As Duy deliberately fed him openings, Hane adjusted his own movements from time to time.

He slowly absorbed his opponent's strengths.

Duy was far more than just his teacher in the Eight Inner Gates. He had trained in Taijutsu day after day for decades, and all of his experience and techniques were things Hane needed to learn!