The rush of air behind him didn't make Hyuga Hane's expression change in the slightest. Even as Uchiha Yakumaru watched, a faint, knowing smile appeared on his face.
"Eight Trigrams Palm: Rotation!"
Blue chakra streamed from the tenketsu all over Hyuga Hane's body. As he spun, it formed a hemispherical chakra barrier.
With several sharp clangs, all the shuriken were knocked away.
Uchiha Yakumaru, who was mere inches away, was caught in Rotation's wake. He could only raise his arms to shield himself from the churning chakra.
"Rotation? Isn't that a technique only the Hyuga Main Family can use?" a knowledgeable ninja wondered aloud.
Another ninja, whose imagination was running wild, murmured, "I heard a member of the Hyuga Main Family was killed recently. Could it be..."
A silver-haired, short Anbu appeared beside the Fourth Hokage and looked to him for instructions.
Namikaze Minato shook his head and said gently:
"He figured it out on his own. When the Hyuga Fourth Elder died, nothing was stolen from his home."
"Kakashi, he's a genius, just like you... No."
Minato paused, then turned to Kakashi. "He's a strong person. He lost his freedom as a child, and his comrades on the battlefield, but he still never gave up."
"He showed me that Rotation because he wants to change his fate!"
"Kakashi, I hope you can become as strong as he is—not in skill, but in spirit."
"Ninja... always lose so much."
The Anbu said nothing.
Seeing this, Minato sighed inwardly.
The Third Hokage had made the right choice in pairing Kakashi and Obito. Obito's innocence and passion had saved Kakashi, but Obito had paid for it with his life.
As their teacher—and the fastest ninja in the Shinobi World—Minato had still arrived too late.
He hoped Kakashi could pull himself together.
On the field, faced with the unexpected Rotation, Uchiha Yakumaru displayed astonishing combat instincts.
He adjusted his stance in time and raised his arms in front of himself. By avoiding the brunt of the impact and using the collision with Rotation to his advantage, he managed to put some distance between himself and Hyuga Hane.
"Quick reaction."
Hyuga Hane could see Yakumaru's trembling arms with his Byakugan. A pattern of Eight Trigrams appeared beneath his feet.
"Want to keep going? Your hands can barely manage Fire Style or Uchiha Shurikenjutsu now, can they?"
"I told you not to underestimate me!"
Ignoring his reddened, swollen arms, Uchiha Yakumaru frowned and asked, "How did you notice? I'm sure you'd sensed it before the shuriken even flew toward you."
"Didn't you already give me the answer?"
Hyuga Hane smiled faintly. "On the Mist Village Battlefield, Uchiha Shurikenjutsu was a lot more useful than Fire Style."
"..."
He'd seen it... That was right. Of course he'd seen it.
Uchiha Yakumaru's expression shifted back and forth.
That was how ninja clans had always been. People often said the Hyuga Clan was old-fashioned, passing Gentle Fist down from generation to generation.
But wasn't every clan the same?
The Ino-Shika-Cho clans were, and so was the Uchiha Clan.
Fire Style, Uchiha Shurikenjutsu, and the many Genjutsu developed around the Sharingan.
Those were the techniques most Uchiha mastered.
But compared with clans like Ino-Shika-Cho, the Uchiha Clan's legacy was stronger. The reason came down to the Sharingan.
"The Uchiha developed their signature shuriken techniques and Fire Style to work with the Sharingan," Yamashiro Aoba quietly explained to his companions.
"Fire Release Ninjutsu is usually easy to see coming. Unless there's a huge gap in strength, it's not hard to dodge or counter. So they have to create opportunities to land a hit."
"Some Fire Style specialists created techniques with greater range and power, at the cost of using more chakra. A B-rank technique like Great Fire Annihilation can cover a huge area if you use enough chakra."
"Others conceal their Fire Style. Take Asuma's Ash Pile Burning, for example: he releases ash and then ignites it. If the enemy isn't paying attention, they'll walk right into the trap."
Some of the surrounding ninja who overheard him also turned their attention to the match. Yamashiro Aoba paid them no mind. "But the Uchiha are different, because they have the Sharingan!"
"As long as they trap their opponent in Genjutsu, their Fire Style will hit. That's why the Uchiha are the best at Fire Style in Konoha—and in the whole Shinobi World."
Their accuracy alone made them the best.
"As for their shuriken techniques, they were developed around the Sharingan's kinetic vision. They give the Uchiha more ways to vary their tactics."
"Sharingan Genjutsu is hard to break. It's impossible to fight freely in front of the Sharingan—no one can fight without looking at their opponent's upper body. But if the Genjutsu is broken, an Uchiha ninja's strength drops by several levels!"
Yamashiro Aoba watched Uchiha Yakumaru struggle, still refusing to give in, while Hyuga Hane remained at ease. He sighed.
"They're both Special Jonin, so there shouldn't be a huge difference in strength. But the moment Hyuga Hane closed his eyes, Uchiha Yakumaru had already lost."
It was obvious that Hyuga Hane, who had shared life and death with Uchiha comrades on the Mist Village Battlefield, understood the Uchiha's strengths and weaknesses very well.
The two sides had unequal information.
Uchiha Yakumaru knew only that Hyuga Hane was a member of the Branch Family. He knew nothing about Hane's strength or the Gentle Fist techniques he had mastered.
Though Hyuga Hane likewise knew nothing about Uchiha Yakumaru's abilities, Yakumaru was only a Special Jonin. He couldn't possibly surpass the Uchiha Jonin.
By comparison, most of Yakumaru's abilities would be easy for Hyuga Hane to guess.
"You don't have to keep going."
After using Rotation to block Dragon Flame Technique once more, Hyuga Hane spoke to the panting Uchiha Yakumaru. "Our match doesn't prove anything."
"The Sharingan has plenty of advantages the Byakugan doesn't. Copying techniques lets Uchiha ninja quickly learn Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, and as they grow stronger, the Sharingan's offensive power far surpasses the Byakugan's."
Not to mention the enormous boost a ninja received when awakening the Sharingan.
Uchiha who steadily advanced to the Three Tomoe stage had better chakra and other basic attributes than ordinary Chunin. They were at least as strong as Special Jonin.
"Our clan's Byakugan is, in the end... more suited to support."
And yet, the final forms of the Sharingan and Byakugan had abilities that seemed to trade places.
The Rinnegan's techniques leaned toward utility and support, while the Tenseigan's were overwhelmingly offensive, making a huge difference to a ninja's strength—enough to raise them to the heavens in a single leap.
The Rinnegan had become more like the Byakugan, while the Tenseigan was more like the Sharingan... What an interesting reversal.
Overwhelmed by the strain of using so many Fire Style techniques, Uchiha Yakumaru dropped to one knee, exhausted.
"Damn it!"
He angrily pounded the ground with his fist, then looked up at Hyuga Hane in the distance and said through gritted teeth, "I give up! But don't get cocky. I'll learn and develop Genjutsu that doesn't require the Sharingan. One day, I'll challenge you again!"
Then I'll shatter that calm, indifferent expression of yours.
With that thought, he got to his feet and reluctantly formed the Seal of Reconciliation with Hyuga Hane.
The proctor appeared on the field at just the right moment and announced, "Hyuga Hane wins!"
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