Hyuga Hane VS Uchiha Yakumaru (Part 2)

The sound of air being torn apart from behind did not cause the slightest ripple in Hyuga Hane's expression; in fact, in the eyes of Uchiha Yakumaru, he even revealed a faint, cryptic smile.

"Eight Trigrams Palm, Rotation!"

Blue chakra surged from every tenketsu on Hyuga Hane's body, and as he spun, it transformed into a hemispherical chakra shield.

With several metallic clangs, all the shuriken were deflected away.

Uchiha Yakumaru, who was within arm's reach, was also caught in the wake of the Rotation; he could only raise his arms to shield himself from the turbulent chakra airflow.

"Rotation? Isn't that a technique only the Hyuga Main Family can perform?" a knowledgeable ninja remarked in surprise.

Another ninja with a wild imagination muttered to himself, "I heard a member of the Hyuga Main Family was murdered recently. Could it be..."

Beside the Fourth Hokage, a short Anbu operative with silver hair appeared and looked toward him for instructions.

Namikaze Minato shook his head and said gently:

"He realized this on his own. When the Fourth Elder of the Hyuga died, nothing was stolen from his home."

"Kakashi, he is a genius, just like you... no."

Namikaze Minato paused, then turned to Kakashi and said, "He is a strong man. Having lost his freedom since childhood and his companions on the battlefield, he still has not given up on his efforts."

"This Rotation was meant to show me that he wants to change his own destiny!"

"Kakashi, I hope you can become as strong as him—not in terms of power, but in spirit."

"A ninja... will always lose many things."

The Anbu remained silent.

Seeing this, Minato sighed inwardly.

The Third Hokage assigning Kakashi and Obito together was indeed the best choice; Obito's innocence and passion saved Kakashi, yet he lost his life forever.

As a teacher, and as the fastest ninja in the Shinobi World, he had ultimately been one step too late.

Hopefully, Kakashi would be able to pull himself together.

On the field, Uchiha Yakumaru displayed astonishing combat instincts when faced with the unexpected Rotation.

He adjusted his posture in time, keeping his hands held in front to avoid a direct impact, and used the collision with the Rotation to put distance between himself and Hyuga Hane.

"Quick reflexes."

Hyuga Hane saw Yakumaru's trembling arms through his Byakugan, and an Eight Trigrams pattern appeared beneath his feet.

"Do you still want to continue? With those hands, your Fire Style and Uchiha Shurikenjutsu won't be very effective, will they?"

"I told you, don't underestimate me!"

Uchiha Yakumaru ignored his reddened, swollen arms and asked with a frown, "How did you find out? I am certain that you had already sensed it before the shuriken were even thrown at you."

"Didn't you already provide the answer yourself?"

Hyuga Hane chuckled, "On the Mist Village Battlefield, Uchiha Shurikenjutsu is far more useful than Fire Style."

"..."

He had seen it... yes, of course he had seen it.

Uchiha Yakumaru's expression shifted uncertainly.

Ninja clans had always been this way; many said the Hyuga Clan was conservative, passing down the Gentle Fist generation after generation.

But which ninja clan wasn't?

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio was the same, and his own Uchiha Clan was no different.

Fire Style, Uchiha Shurikenjutsu, and the many genjutsu developed based on the Sharingan.

These were what the majority of Uchiha clansmen mastered.

However, compared to families like Ino-Shika-Cho, the Uchiha Clan's heritage appeared stronger, and the reason for that was the Sharingan.

"The shurikenjutsu and Fire Style that the Uchiha Clan excels at were developed to complement the Sharingan."

Yamashiro Aoba explained in a low voice to his companions.

"Fire Style ninjutsu are very obvious; unless there is a massive gap in strength, it isn't difficult to dodge or neutralize them. Therefore, one must create opportunities for a hit."

"Some ninjas who specialize in Fire Style pay the price of consuming more chakra to create Fire Style ninjutsu with greater range and power. For example, a B-rank ninjutsu like Great Fire Annihilation can cover a massive area if enough chakra is used."

"Others mask their Fire Style, such as the Fire Style—Ash Pile Burning mastered by Asuma, which releases smoke and ash first before igniting it. If an enemy isn't careful, they will fall into the trap."

The surrounding ninjas who overheard were also drawn in, but Yamashiro Aoba ignored them. "But the Uchiha are different, because they possess the Sharingan!"

"As long as they can trap the enemy in a genjutsu, their Fire Style will always hit, which is why the Uchiha are the number one Fire Style users in Konoha, and even the entire Shinobi World."

In terms of hit rate alone, they were the best.

"As for their shurikenjutsu, it is developed based on the Sharingan's kinetic vision as a means to diversify their tactics."

"Sharingan genjutsu is very difficult to break. It is impossible to fight freely in front of a Sharingan; no one can fight without looking at their opponent's upper body. But once it is broken, the strength of an Uchiha ninja drops by several notches!"

Yamashiro Aoba looked at Uchiha Yakumaru, who was struggling and unwilling to admit defeat, and the composed Hyuga Hane, sighing:

"They are both Special Jonin, so the gap in their strength shouldn't be that large, but the moment Hyuga Hane closed his eyes, Uchiha Yakumaru had already lost."

It was clear that Hyuga Hane, having lived and died alongside Uchiha comrades on the Mist Village Battlefield, possessed a deep understanding of the Uchiha clan's strengths and weaknesses.

The intelligence between the two was asymmetrical.

Uchiha Yakumaru only knew that Hyuga Hane was a member of the Branch Family; he had no knowledge of Hane's true strength or the Gentle Fist techniques he had mastered.

While the latter was equally ignorant of Uchiha Yakumaru's specific capabilities, Yakumaru was merely a Special Jonin and could not possibly surpass those elite Uchiha Jonin Hane had faced before.

By drawing such analogies, most of the necessary intelligence surfaced in Hyuga Hane's mind.

"There is no need to persist."

After once again using Rotation to neutralize the Dragon Flame Technique, Hyuga Hane spoke to the panting Uchiha Yakumaru, "The outcome of our match proves nothing."

"The Sharingan possesses many advantages that the Byakugan lacks; the Copy Wheel Eye allows Uchiha ninja to rapidly learn taijutsu and ninjutsu as they grow, and its offensive capabilities far exceed those of the Byakugan."

Not to mention the massive boost a ninja receives the moment the Sharingan is awakened.

An Uchiha ninja who steadily advances to the Three Tomoe level sees their chakra and other fundamental stats surpass those of an average Chunin, reaching at least the level of a Special Jonin.

"In the end, our clan's Byakugan... is more inclined toward support."

Yet, for such Sharingan and Byakugan, the abilities of their ultimate evolved forms were inverted.

The Rinnegan's ocular powers lean heavily toward technique and support, while the Tenseigan's ocular powers are incredibly aggressive, providing a massive boost to a ninja's strength that could be described as a leap to the heavens.

The Rinnegan has become like the Byakugan, while the Tenseigan has become like the Sharingan... what an interesting change.

Having unleashed numerous Fire Style techniques, Uchiha Yakumaru was overwhelmed and collapsed onto one knee in exhaustion.

"Damn it!"

He struck the ground with his fist in frustration, looked up at Hyuga Hane in the distance, and said with deep unwillingness:

"I concede! But don't get cocky; I will learn and develop genjutsu that can be cast without the Sharingan, and one day I will challenge you again!"

And I will shatter that calm, indifferent expression of yours.

With that thought, he stood up and reluctantly performed the Seal of Reconciliation with Hyuga Hane.

The proctor appeared in the arena at the perfect moment and announced, "Hyuga Hane is the winner!"