The World of Geniuses

Hyuga Kiyonari stood in the center of the clearing, drenched in sweat, as he assumed the starting stance of the Gentle Fist Technique. To the casual observer, his posture looked identical to the one demonstrated by Neji Hyuga.

He then lunged forward, his right palm shooting out like an arrow, aimed directly at Neji's chest.

"Smack!"

Neji had his left hand behind his back, his right hand extended to catch Kiyonari's palm.

Kiyonari attempted to attack again, but no matter what he did, his movements were laid bare before Neji, who parried every strike with ease using only one hand.

As the sparring ended, Kiyonari panted and shook his head. "It's no use. Your movements are always one step ahead of mine. Even when I know I should change my tactic, I'm still a beat too slow."

"That's because your method of generating force is wrong," Neji said, extending his right hand to mimic Kiyonari's previous attack. "Watch closely."

Neji then pushed his palm forward slowly—so slowly that Kiyonari could see every detail. Yet, despite the sluggish pace, Kiyonari felt an invisible pressure, as if the very air were being pushed aside.

"Pay attention to my arm," Neji said, continuing his forward motion. "The arm muscles are relaxed. The real force comes from here..."

He paused and tapped his own elbow with his left hand.

"The elbow?"

Kiyonari blinked, stunned. He found it hard to believe the answer could be so simple.

"Exactly," Neji said, retracting his hand. "The Gentle Fist Technique doesn't obsess over the power of every single strike; it must always leave room for adjustments. Therefore, when executing a straight strike, you don't swing your fist with your arm—you push it out with your elbow."

"The essence of the Gentle Fist is flexibility. Rigid muscles will only make you sluggish. Even if you can see the enemy's movements and predict their next move, you won't be able to adjust in time."

As he spoke, he suddenly stepped forward and gently pressed his right palm against Kiyonari's chest.

"This way, you can achieve the same effect with less force while still leaving room to change your strategy."

Before Kiyonari could react, he felt a soft yet irresistible force emanate from his chest, sending him stumbling back several steps before he could barely steady himself.

"Try it again."

Neji stepped back to create distance, signaling for Kiyonari to resume the attack.

Kiyonari took a deep breath, adjusted his stance, and returned to the Gentle Fist starting position. He locked his gaze on Neji and thrust his palms forward.

However, Neji extended his hands as well, countering with the Eight Trigrams Two Palms.

Their hands clashed in the air and retracted... then came the Eight Trigrams Four... wait!

Kiyonari's eyes widened in shock.

After using the Eight Trigrams Two Palms, Neji shifted his stance and skipped the Eight Trigrams Four Palms entirely. His palms blurred into afterimages, as if four hands were striking at him simultaneously.

This was... the Eight Trigrams Eight Palms!

This sudden change in tactics was far beyond Kiyonari's expectations. Facing the fierce barrage of palms, he had no time to think of a proper Gentle Fist counter. In his desperation, his body's instincts took over; he sank his hips and whipped his right arm out like a lash.

His clenched fist didn't rely on the brute force of his arm muscles; instead, after the initial phase, he shifted the point of force to his elbow, driving his entire fist forward with even greater speed.

"Boom!"

This hurried yet precise straight punch actually shattered Neji's Eight Trigrams Eight Palms offensive, forcing him to retract his hands and retreat to avoid the brunt of the strike.

Neji, however, offered a rare note of approval. "Very good. Your combat talent is not bad at all."

"That actually worked?"

Kiyonari was puzzled. That last move had been a purely subconscious reaction, one where his brain had completely given up on thinking.

Could it be that abandoning conscious thought was the secret to combat?

"That is enough," Neji nodded.

"We just discussed this. Whether it's the Gentle Fist or the Byakugan, the essence of the Hyuga Clan's combat is to ensure your opponent cannot read your movements, while you can read theirs."

"As long as you meet that condition, what does it matter if you mix in some Steel Fist? The only drawback is that if certain people in the Main Branch see it, they'll scold you for being 'disrespectful' or 'breaking tradition'."

"Take the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms as an example. Most Hyuga clansmen believe this combo must be executed in one fluid motion, always worrying about how to transition from two palms to four, and four to eight. Hinata is like that; she is too focused on the technique itself."

"At the end of the day, the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms is just the fastest way our ancestors found to strike sixty-four major pressure points. When fighting an opponent who understands the Gentle Fist, changing the order of the strikes will always have a surprising effect. You could even strike them in reverse."

Is this the world of a genius?

At an age when others couldn't even perform the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms smoothly, Neji was already thinking about how to improve the techniques.

While others were still grinding away at the basics, Neji had already self-taught the highest secret of the Hyuga Clan—the Rotation.

While others were still following tradition, Neji had already created the Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms.

This kind of gap really wasn't something that could be bridged by hard work alone.

Kiyonari suddenly thought of someone else: Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke had put in tremendous effort to master the Great Fireball Technique. He practiced for days, from dawn until dusk, constantly forming hand seals, molding chakra, and exhaling flames until the skin on his face was scorched by the heat.

But what about Itachi Uchiha?

He had simply watched his father, Fugaku Uchiha, demonstrate it once, and then perfectly replicated it.

In the eyes of ordinary people, Sasuke was already a genius.

But in his own view, only an existence like Itachi was worthy of the word "genius."

The gap between people is sometimes truly greater than the gap between a human and a dog. The Inuzuka clan can even merge with their dogs; could you merge with a genius and catch a glimpse of the world of a genius?

Wait!

Hyuga Kiyonari narrowed his eyes slightly. I think... I actually can!

After bidding farewell to Neji, he locked himself in his room and began to examine the abilities he lacked the most.

Was it combat instinct, tactical thinking, or perhaps... the ability to comprehend?

A few minutes later, he added a small setting to the character "Hyuga Kiyonari" in the script, consuming only 30 Revision Points.

The instant the Revision Points were paid, Kiyonari felt a strange sense of enlightenment surge into his heart, as if the fog before his eyes had been swept away.

He took an arrow from under the bed and attempted to mobilize his chakra. A pale blue glow of chakra flowed out from the acupoints in his hand, rapidly spreading to cover the entire arrowhead. However, the moment he loosened his fingers, the chakra on the arrow dissipated instantly, like water without a source.

Kiyonari stared at the arrow, the principles of the Gentle Fist Technique swirling in his mind: "The essence of the Gentle Fist lies in injecting one's own chakra into the enemy's body through their acupoints; as long as it can be injected, it can cause damage to the internal organs. Point-striking is mainly used to block the flow of the chakra meridian system, hinder the enemy's movements, and create opportunities for subsequent attacks. But what if the first strike were the decisive one..."

Thinking of this, his train of thought suddenly cleared.

"If I were to replace this arrow with chakra-conductive metal, would it be possible to maintain the injected chakra even after it leaves the string?"

This idea extended into even more possibilities.

"If that works, could I replace the arrow with something else? Something thin and hard to detect like a needle, or something faster and harder to dodge like a bullet?"

But new problems followed.

"However, the production cost would be an issue. And if I can't achieve suppressive fire, what is the point of making firearms? Ordinary thermal weapons are difficult to use to inflict effective damage on ninjas before they can be deployed on a sufficient scale."

"Wait, am I getting off track?"

"Ugh, how annoying..."

He muttered, scratched his hair, walked over to the desk, and wrote down all the ideas he had just had.

Sigh, having too much inspiration is also a kind of trouble.