Takigakure Two Ghosts

"Swish, swish, swish!" Hyuga Xinghuo's teammates threw several kunai and shuriken, while Qingyun dodged once again, this time returning to Hyuga Xinghuo's side.

"Didn't I tell you not to help me!?" Hyuga Xinghuo was a ninja who adhered strictly to his principles.

Hyuga Xinghuo then shouted, "Qingyun! You have already fallen into my formation! You cannot escape!"

However, Qingyun kept his eyes closed, focusing all his attention.

"Hmph! Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" Hyuga Xinghuo had already activated his Byakugan, the veins around his eyes bulging.

"One palm!" Qingyun's body swayed like a noodle, miraculously dodging the first strike.

"Two palms!"

"Four palms."

"Eight palms."

"Sixteen palms."

The Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms grew faster and faster. Qingyun's Shadow Clone was struck, but it did not dissipate immediately because the Armament Haki and Sage Robe had mitigated a great deal of the damage.

"Thirty-two palms!"

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" By the time the sixty-fourth palm landed, Qingyun's Shadow Clone had taken quite a few hits.

"Not bad. As expected of the Hyuga Clan, the masters of taijutsu. If these sixty-four palms had landed on an ordinary person, their chakra would likely be sealed, and they would have suffered grave injuries, right?" Qingyun's Shadow Clone asked.

While Qingyun marveled at the power of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, Hyuga Xinghuo was shocked that Qingyun remained completely unscathed—and this was merely a Shadow Clone!

"How is this possible!?"

"Why hasn't your Shadow Clone disappeared!?" Hyuga Xinghuo found it inconceivable; this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

"Because your attacks are neither painful nor itchy, my clone hasn't reached the point of dissipating. I wonder if you can understand that?" Qingyun said.

"Impossible! Even though you didn't take the full set of sixty-four palms, the chakra in your clone's body should have been disrupted; it should be impossible to maintain it like this!" Hyuga Xinghuo felt bewildered. He had never seen a Shadow Clone capable of such strength.

"So, does this mean your pressure point strikes failed? How else do you intend to attack?" Qingyun's Shadow Clone stared at Hyuga Xinghuo and asked.

"I... I won't give up!" Hyuga Xinghuo rushed toward Qingyun. Although he didn't continue using the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, he went straight for the Gentle Fist.

Qingyun's Shadow Clone naturally utilized ghost-like movement techniques, dodging Hyuga Xinghuo's attacks one by one.

"Huff, huff, huff..." Soon, Hyuga Xinghuo was panting heavily, his stamina waning. This was hardly surprising, given that he had been the one actively attacking Qingyun the entire time.

"It seems your strength is just about spent. Let me finish this for you!" Qingyun's Shadow Clone said.

Just as Qingyun intended to use ninjutsu to quickly defeat Hyuga Xinghuo, he noticed that Hyuga Xinghuo's two teammates had exchanged a glance and were immediately weaving hand signs to prepare a ninjutsu.

Judging by the situation, they seemed intent on eliminating the boy named Hyuga Xinghuo along with him.

"Not good! These two guys—they're going to kill both Hyuga Xinghuo and me! If a member of the Hyuga Clan dies here, I'll never be able to clear my name!" Qingyun immediately used the Super Body Flicker Technique to quickly shove Hyuga Xinghuo to the other side, taking the full brunt of the ninjutsu attack himself.

"This!? What is going on!?" Hyuga Xinghuo was stunned; he hadn't expected his own teammates to attack him.

And yet, his opponent, Qingyun, had actually protected him.

"Poof!" Qingyun's Shadow Clone was finally destroyed.

Qingyun frowned and opened his eyes, no longer continuing to comprehend his Observation Haki.

"Hyuga Xinghuo, don't blame us. Blame yourself for being incompetent and failing to take down this brat."

"Since things have come to this, we won't keep up the charade! In truth, we were never your teammates. Your real teammates were already finished off by us!"

"We are ninjas from Takigakure. Before we entered, someone ordered us to kill a ninja named Qingyun and told us the Hyuga Clan could be exploited. So, we found you, and when you separated, we killed your teammates just so we could kill this kid named Qingyun at the critical moment."

"However, the eyes of the Hyuga Clan seem like valuable goods, too. So, we decided to wait until you were both exhausted and kill you both!"

"Hahaha! You must have no strength left to fight now, right?"

"Little brat Qingyun! Blame yourself for abandoning your teammates and coming here alone; otherwise, you wouldn't have died so quickly!"

"Remember our names! The Takigakure Two Ghosts! Farewell!" The two Takigakure ninjas threw their kunai directly. One kunai looked set to pierce Hyuga Xinghuo, while the other was about to strike Qingyun.

The two of them truly intended to kill both Hyuga Xinghuo and Qingyun right there.

Qingyun was about to dodge, but to his surprise, Hyuga Xinghuo suddenly stood in front of him and shoved him away.

"Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation!" Hyuga Xinghuo spun rapidly, creating a chakra barrier that could deflect physical attacks.

In a sense, Hyuga Xinghuo had become Qingyun's savior.

This guy actually saved me? What a surprise! Qingyun had assumed all members of the Hyuga Clan were unreasonable; seeing this, his attitude toward the Hyuga changed significantly.

"You dare kill my teammates!" Hyuga Xinghuo was furious. He looked at Qingyun and said, "Let's put our fight on hold!"

"Let's join forces and take these two bastards down first!" Hyuga Xinghuo proposed.

"Haha! By all means!" Qingyun also intended to strike; after all, these two were already on his must-kill list.

If for no other reason, Qingyun simply despised these kinds of treacherous cowards who struck from the shadows.

"Hahahaha! Do you still have the strength to deal with us?" The two Takigakure ninjas dispelled their Transformation Technique, revealing their true forms.

"This guy! They look exactly the same!?" Hyuga Xinghuo was also shocked; it seemed he had never encountered such a situation before.

"Twins?" This was the first time Qingyun had encountered twins in the world of Hokage.

"The two of us have practiced a secret technique, so our thoughts are synchronized. In other words, our minds are interconnected, allowing us to unleash several times our original power!" the Takigakure Two Ghosts said in unison.

"I don't care about all that! Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" Hyuga Xinghuo didn't waste any words, striking out with a palm immediately; the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm was simply a long-range version of the Eight Trigrams Palms.

However, the Takigakure Two Ghosts dodged Hyuga Xinghuo's attack with ease.

"Hm? It seems these Takigakure Two Ghosts actually possess some combat ability." Qingyun noticed that the movements of these two were surprisingly identical. Could this be the telepathic connection of twins?