Dai and Hyuga Hane

A few days later, Hyuga Hane, as was his custom, created three Shadow Clones and made his arrangements.

One went underground to conduct experiments, while another headed to the subterranean training ground for ninjutsu practice.

The last one focused on studying the various knowledge he had collected.

Three Shadow Clones was the optimal number he had verified over several years; exceeding this caused fatigue to stack, which would severely decrease his training efficiency the following day.

Hyuga Hane's original body, meanwhile, arrived in the forest to begin his taijutsu training.

Shadow Clones could only provide feedback on experience; they could not improve physical strength. To open the next gate of the Eight Inner Gates, he had to improve that himself.

The training method was Might Guy's self-imposed regimen.

This was the man who had nearly kicked the series finale into existence with a single blow; his training methods certainly had their merits. Besides, he wouldn't be shouting like Guy, so there was nothing embarrassing about it.

"Hane! Training like this has no soul!"

As Hyuga Hane was doing one-armed push-ups, sweat dripping like rain, a resonant shout rang out, accompanied by the sound of something cutting through the air.

Hyuga Hane reacted instantly, pushing off with his palm and feet to slide back several meters, narrowly avoiding the fierce kick that had struck his previous position.

"Guy, it's not a good habit to warn your enemy when you attack."

Hyuga Hane looked toward where he had just been standing; a strange man in a green bodysuit was standing there.

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

"That's right, Guy. Burning with youth requires timing; you can't drop the ball on the battlefield."

Might Duy, also wearing a green bodysuit and sporting thick eyebrows, stepped out from behind a tree, nodding deeply with his arms crossed.

If one ignored the green bodysuits he and his son were wearing, one might conclude he was earnestly educating his child rather than charging headlong down a bizarre path.

"I understand, Father." Guy grinned, raised his hand, and gave Duy a thumbs-up. "Youth does not allow for failure!"

"Guy!"

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

Guy: "Oh!"

Hyuga Hane looked at the two with an indescribable expression and helplessly covered his forehead.

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

They were just too hot-blooded.

However, they were actually easy to get along with.

With a smile on his lips, Hyuga Hane asked, "Master, you didn't come looking for me just for training, did you?"

"No," Duy shook his finger from side to side, "it was exactly for training."

"You've been back for nearly half a year, and Guy and I have never seen you come here. We needed to check if your level has dropped. Guy!"

Flashing his pearly white teeth in response to his father, Might Guy turned back to face Hane and assumed a stance.

"Let us have a hot-blooded battle!"

Hyuga Hane narrowed his eyes. "Guy, I am currently a Special Jonin, and I submitted my application for the Jonin exam to the Hokage a while ago."

"Kakashi, the opponent you acknowledge, became a Jonin long ago."

"You haven't kept up with our pace. If you want to fight us, you must at least become a Jonin first."

Guy's movements faltered; he lowered his stance and nodded in agreement.

"That's true. Although challenging a Jonin makes my heart race, without the corresponding status, I suppose I cannot make you acknowledge me, right?"

"Fine, I will become a Jonin as soon as possible. You had better not refuse a challenge then."

"First, run ten laps around the village. You cannot stop halfway, or you will be punished with twenty laps."

Watching as Guy was sent off to train by Hane's few words, Might Duy fell silent.

He really was skilled at dealing with Guy.

"Master Duy, I apologize. Some things happened within the clan previously, and I didn't want to involve you two." Hane walked over to Might Duy and said apologetically.

"Ah, the matter of the Hyuga clansman being killed?"

Might Duy scratched his head, ignoring his youth-burning son, and asked with some confusion:

"I heard from the higher-ups that it was done by spies from another country, right?"

Hyuga Hane shook his head. "The situation is a bit complicated. The Hokage personally looked into it."

Might Duy immediately understood and stopped asking about the matter, turning instead to smile. "You are about to be promoted to Jonin; you must work even harder in the future!"

His words showed no concern that Hyuga Hane might fail the exam.

A fifteen-year-old Special Jonin—unlike himself, a perennial Genin—Might Duy knew that Hyuga Hane would become a Jonin sooner or later.

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

"What could a Genin like me, who can't use ninjutsu, possibly teach you?"

Dai shook his head, saying with gratification, "Both you and Guy have already surpassed me."

"Not in terms of raw strength," Hyuga Hane replied.

Konoha had always been a place where the Genin were the strongest.

This was especially true for that particular group who had failed to promote to Chunin for many years; they were the most outrageous of all.

In Konoha right now, if one were to speak of individual strength, only four people could pose a lethal threat to him: Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Namikaze Minato, and Dai.

As for the others, even the Third Hokage, known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, could not be considered dangerous to him.

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

And they... knew nothing of his intelligence!

"If it weren't for the fact that the village's Chunin promotion exams require well-rounded qualities, you wouldn't have remained a Genin all this time, Teacher," Hyuga Hane said sincerely.

He imagined the Seven Ninja Swordsmen must have been cursing this fact right before they died.

Only Konoha would be capable of having a Genin who could beat a Kage to death.

"Hahaha, although it makes me happy to be praised by my student like that, I do have many shortcomings, and the Eight Inner Gates is a forbidden technique after all."

Dai laughed heartily, flashing the same gleaming teeth as Guy. "Do your best on the Jonin exam. Don't lose because of carelessness. I'll prepare the best gift for you to celebrate."

Hyuga Hane looked at Dai's spandex suit with a complicated expression and forced a smile. "Thank you, Teacher."

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

"Alright, enough idle chatter. You sent Guy away because you wanted me to personally instruct you, right?"

Dai placed one hand behind his back, gesturing for a challenge. "Come on, let's have a passionate, youthful brawl."

Hyuga Hane's gaze sharpened as green energy erupted from his entire body.

Since he was going to become a Jonin, there were some things he didn't need to hide too deeply.

As long as he kept it within a controllable range, the Third would not move against someone from the Hyuga Branch Family. Furthermore, with the Fourth Hokage currently in power, the Third would not interfere in unnecessary matters.

"You've already managed to open the Gate of Limit?"

Dai's expression turned solemn as green energy appeared around his own body as well.

"It looks like this will be a passionate, fierce battle."

As the words fell, Dai and Hyuga Hane locked eyes and vanished from their spots simultaneously.

Intense sounds of collision echoed through the forest, and the terrifying force of their strikes snapped trees just by grazing them.

The forest quickly became a miserable sight under the two men's rampage.

Hyuga Hane used his Byakugan to earnestly record and observe Dai's movements, adjusting his own techniques from time to time as the latter intentionally fed him moves.

He was slowly absorbing the other's strengths.

Dai was not just his teacher for the Eight Inner Gates; the man's decades of consistent taijutsu training, his vast experience, and his techniques were all things he needed to learn!