The Takigakure Two Ghosts

"Clang, clang, clang!" Hyuga Xinghuo's teammates threw several kunai and shuriken. 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 strictly followed the rules of a duel.

Then Hyuga Xinghuo shouted, "Qingyun! You've already fallen into my formation! You can't escape!"

But Qingyun still kept his eyes closed, focusing his attention.

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

"One palm!" Qingyun's body swayed like a noodle, somehow 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 didn't disappear immediately. Armament Haki and the Sage Robe had greatly reduced the damage.

"Thirty-two palms!"

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" By the time all sixty-four strikes were finished, Qingyun's Shadow Clone had taken quite a few hits.

"Not bad. The Hyuga Clan really is the foremost clan in Taijutsu. If those sixty-four strikes had landed on an ordinary person, they'd probably have sealed their chakra and seriously injured them, right?" Qingyun's Shadow Clone asked.

Qingyun was marveling at the power of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, but Hyuga Xinghuo was shocked that Qingyun was completely unharmed. And the one standing before him was only a Shadow Clone!

"How is that possible!?"

"Why hasn't your Shadow Clone disappeared!?" Hyuga Xinghuo found it hard to believe. He had never encountered anything like this before.

"Because your attacks barely hurt, the Shadow Clone hasn't reached the point of disappearing. Do you understand what I mean?" Qingyun said.

"Impossible! You may not have taken the full sixty-four strikes, but your Shadow Clone's chakra should already be in disarray. It shouldn't be able to keep going!" Hyuga Xinghuo couldn't believe it. He had never seen anyone's Shadow Clone become this powerful.

"So your pressure-point strikes had no effect? How are you going to attack now?" Qingyun's Shadow Clone stared at Hyuga Xinghuo.

"I-I won't give up!" Hyuga Xinghuo charged at Qingyun. He didn't use the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms again, instead attacking with the Gentle Fist.

Qingyun's Shadow Clone naturally used a ghostly, elusive footwork to dodge every one of Hyuga Xinghuo's attacks.

"Haah... haah..." Hyuga Xinghuo was soon panting heavily, already running out of strength. That was no surprise, considering he had been the one attacking Qingyun the entire time.

"Looks like you've nearly used up all your strength. I'll finish you off," Qingyun's Shadow Clone said.

Just as Qingyun was about to use a ninjutsu to defeat Hyuga Xinghuo quickly, he noticed that Hyuga Xinghuo's two teammates had exchanged glances and were forming Hand Seals, preparing to use a ninjutsu.

It looked as if they intended to take out Hyuga Xinghuo as well.

"Not good! These two are going to kill Hyuga Xinghuo and me! If someone from the Hyuga Clan dies here, I won't be able to explain myself!" Qingyun immediately used the Super Body Flicker Technique to shove Hyuga Xinghuo out of the way, taking the full force of the ninjutsu himself.

"What!? What's going on!?" Hyuga Xinghuo was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected his teammates to attack him.

And Qingyun, his opponent, had protected him.

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

Qingyun frowned, opened his eyes, and stopped trying to master Observation Haki.

"Hyuga Xinghuo, don't blame us. Blame yourself for being useless and failing to kill that brat."

"Now that it's come to this, we'll stop pretending! We were never your teammates in the first place. The two of us already killed your real teammates!"

"We're ninjas from Takigakure. Before we came in, someone told us to kill a ninja named Qingyun and said the Hyuga Clan could be useful to us. So we found you. When you were separated from your teammates, we killed them, all so we could kill this brat Qingyun at the crucial moment."

"Still, the eyes of the Hyuga Clan seem pretty valuable too. So we decided to kill both of you while you were weakened from fighting each other!"

"Hahaha! You two must be too exhausted to fight now, right?"

"Qingyun, brat! Blame yourself for abandoning your teammates and coming alone. Otherwise, you wouldn't have died so quickly!"

"Remember our names! The Takigakure Two Ghosts! Goodbye!" The two Takigakure ninjas threw their kunai. One was about to pierce Hyuga Xinghuo, and the other was about to hit Qingyun.

They really intended to kill Hyuga Xinghuo and Qingyun right there.

Qingyun was about to dodge, but Hyuga Xinghuo suddenly stepped in front of him and shoved him aside.

"Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation!" Hyuga Xinghuo spun rapidly, generating a chakra dome 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 thought everyone in the Hyuga Clan was unreasonable. Now, his opinion of the clan had changed considerably.

"You dared to kill my teammates!" Hyuga Xinghuo was furious. He glanced at Qingyun and said, "We'll put our fight on hold!"

"Let's team up and take these bastards down first!" Hyuga Xinghuo suggested.

"Haha! Of course!" Qingyun was ready to join the fight. After all, these two had already made it onto his list of people who had to die.

Not for any other reason than that Qingyun hated people who struck from the shadows.

"Hahahaha! Do you still have enough strength to fight us?" The two Takigakure ninjas dispelled their Transformation Technique, revealing their true appearances.

"They look exactly alike?!" Hyuga Xinghuo was astonished. He didn't think he'd ever seen anything like this.

"Twins?" Qingyun had never encountered twins in the Naruto world before either.

"We learned a secret technique, so our thoughts are synchronized. In other words, we can communicate with each other through our minds, allowing us to unleash several times our original strength!" the Takigakure Two Ghosts said in unison.

"I don't care about any of that! Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" Without wasting a word, Hyuga Xinghuo struck out with his palm. The Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm was a long-range version of the Eight Trigrams Palms.

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

"Hm? These two Takigakure Ghosts seem to have some fighting ability after all." Qingyun noticed that their movements were uncannily synchronized. Was this some kind of telepathy between twins?