The True Meaning in a Single Sentence

Across the entire Shinobi World, very few ninja could use Medical Ninjutsu.

Medical Ninjutsu required an exceptionally high level of chakra control and took a long time to learn. Even with Tsunade, the Medical Sage, the number of medical ninja in Konoha remained low. Of course, that might have had something to do with her being away from the village for many years.

But for most villages, training a medical ninja cost more than training several combat ninja, who could always be replaced if they died.

If every squad needed a medical ninja, they simply wouldn't have enough to go around.

"The support position in a squad doesn't require true Medical Ninjutsu. They only need to know basic skills like stopping bleeding, bandaging wounds, and stabilizing fractures. Those don't require complicated Medical Ninjutsu. With a short training course, anyone can learn them."

"Also," Tsunade added, "I'll organize an additional mobile Medical Corps. They won't take part in combat; they'll only treat the seriously wounded."

Indeed, if that was all they required, the plan became far more feasible.

"That's all for now. Dismissed! I'll form the squads based on the roster and everyone's detailed information!"

Tsunade waved her hand and dismissed them.

Shisui Uchiha pondered this. He knew the ninja present were all itching for a fight; they'd come to resist Kumogakure. But he also had a vague sense that Tsunade's plan might not be quite what they imagined.

I hope the clan members can all behave themselves.

"Haah."

Konoha.

Hyuga Kiyonari was at home, studying the Summoning Technique, when Neji Hyuga suddenly came to visit.

"Father's gone to the battlefield. Before he left, he asked me to find out... do you want to learn the Gentle Fist Technique?"

Kiyonari nodded without hesitation. "Of course."

"Then let's go to the training ground. We can talk on the way." Neji motioned for him to hurry up, then asked, "What do you think Gentle Fist is?"

Kiyonari thought for a moment before answering, "Taijutsu can broadly be divided into two types. One is Steel Fist, which causes direct external injuries. The other is Gentle Fist, which damages an enemy's internal organs by striking their chakra network."

Neji nodded slightly. The answer was simple, but it had captured the essential nature of the Gentle Fist Technique.

However, Kiyonari raised a question. "I've been thinking... since Gentle Fist still requires you to touch your opponent to work, why not just use a kunai to stab them? Wouldn't that be faster and the damage more obvious?"

Apart from some ninja who trained in Nintaijutsu, most ninja were just ordinary mortals. One slash could leave them bleeding and immediately unable to fight.

By comparison, Gentle Fist could damage an enemy's internal organs and chakra network, but its effects weren't as immediate or obvious as a blade's.

"Let me ask you this," Neji said, raising his hand. "If someone lunged at you with a kunai during a fight, would you dodge and counterattack, or trade wounds?"

"Dodge, of course." Kiyonari answered without hesitation. "Even if I injured my opponent, getting stabbed by a kunai would leave me seriously wounded too. Trading wounds like that isn't worth it."

"Good. Then let me ask you something else. What if the enemy replaced the kunai in his hand with two fingers and lunged at you like this..."

Neji extended the index and middle fingers of his right hand and jabbed toward Kiyonari's wrist.

"And you were holding a kunai and lunging at him. Would you dodge, or trade wounds?"

Kiyonari froze for a moment.

Modern people and ninja had developed in completely opposite directions. The former were good at thinking and dealing with people, while the latter excelled at fighting and having close conversations with their enemies.

He didn't show off. Instead, he remained humble and answered honestly. "I might trade wounds, because I think I could seriously injure my opponent while trying to avoid taking a fatal wound myself."

Neji nodded. "Exactly. That's the first principle of Gentle Fist."

"On the surface, the Gentle Fist Technique doesn't look very threatening. That makes it easy to take advantage of an enemy who lets his guard down. When someone faces a sharp kunai, he'll instinctively dodge. When he faces a punch or a kick, he'll first consider whether he can block it. But when all he faces is your palm or fingers, he'll be much less alert."

"This happens because the essence of combat is offense. Everyone strives to attack, and to do it quickly."

"Why does that happen?" Kiyonari asked.

Neji was silent for a moment before answering. "Because most ninja battles are unfair. A Genin won't necessarily only encounter other Genin."

Kiyonari nodded thoughtfully, but soon spotted another problem. "But if my opponent decides to trade wounds while holding a kunai, wouldn't I be in the same situation?"

Neji slowly raised his hand and tapped his temple with his index finger. "That's when we use our eyes."

"One of the Byakugan's basic abilities is X-ray vision. It can see the flow of chakra inside an enemy, observe the layout of their chakra network, and catch the signs of their muscles tensing before they strike. With this information, we can predict what our opponent will do next."

As he spoke, Neji suddenly moved.

Neji appeared in front of Kiyonari in a flash. With the index and middle fingers of his right hand held together, he made a stabbing motion. Kiyonari instinctively tried to raise his arm to block, but Neji's attack was only a feint. With a flick of his wrist, he slipped past Kiyonari's guard.

"Smack!"

Neji's palm lightly struck Kiyonari's shoulder.

"If I'd used Gentle Fist just now," Neji said calmly, withdrawing his hand, "your shoulder and this arm would already be unable to move."

"That's the power of the Byakugan. I can clearly see the flow of chakra inside you. When you decided to block, your arm muscles tensed instantly, and chakra flowed into your arm. The Byakugan leaves no room for such subtle changes to hide."

"So I can predict the direction of your defense and choose the best angle to attack."

Kiyonari suddenly understood.

When you could see every subtle movement an enemy made and predict what he would do next, combat stopped being a contest of skill. It became a game where one side had far more information than the other.

"Now."

Neji folded his arms across his chest, his pride rising naturally from within.

"Back to the question from before. If you've already seen that your opponent is about to lunge at you with a kunai, would you dodge, or pretend you can't dodge and land a blow with Gentle Fist?"

The answer was obvious.

"I'd pretend I couldn't dodge," Kiyonari replied firmly.

Combat in the Hyuga Clan was a battle of wits. The Gentle Fist Technique and the Byakugan complemented each other; neither could do without the other.

Without the Byakugan, Gentle Fist was merely a close-range fighting style that didn't do much damage. Without the Gentle Fist Technique, the Byakugan was merely an observation tool. Ao of Kirigakure, for example, couldn't put the Byakugan he'd stolen to use in combat and could only use it to gather information.

Yet very few people could see the true nature of things. Most members of the Hyuga Clan simply trained in the Gentle Fist Technique by rote, opening their Byakugan and mechanically striking with the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

If Kiyonari and Neji hadn't been close, Neji probably wouldn't have explained so much to him.

Understand one principle, and you can understand them all.

A flood of ingenious ideas surged through Hyuga Kiyonari's mind. This approach could even be used with a bow and arrow. No wonder people said, "The true meaning can be taught in a single sentence."