Spirit Summoning and Empty Palm

Leave the work to the professionals, and you can just sit at home and count the money.

Hyuga Hoshishaku thought happily, perhaps once the new shop opened, he would finally achieve financial freedom.

A day had passed since the four of them had their conversation.

During this day, he had spent two hours in the village completing exploration and stamina-replenishment missions, and had sparred with the other three in turns, effectively finishing his daily tasks.

However, Hyuga Shiin, who hailed from the Branch House, possessed a level of chakra equivalent to a Chunin, yet her actual combat strength was barely on par with her daughter's.

Tomorrow was the day to meet Senju Tobirama at Konoha Training Ground One.

Hyuga Hoshishaku sat in his room sipping tea, pondering how he should handle it if he encountered a classic trope like the bell-snatching test.

Currently, his chakra reserves were firmly at the Chunin level.

But his only offensive means were the Gentle Fist, Rotation, and the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

These abilities could be considered barely passing for a Chunin.

But that was not enough.

Even a Chunin who was nearly seven years old was only reaching the level of a future Kakashi.

Yet, in actual combat, he certainly wouldn't be as good as the real deal.

As for the Sealing Technique and Summoning Technique brought to him by Ajisai, he had only experimented with the Sealing Technique so far.

The Sealing-In Technique and the Unsealing Technique could barely count as offensive methods.

The Sealing-In Technique allowed him to use pre-prepared sealing paper to create a hurricane-like suction force within a ten-meter radius in front of him.

And the Unsealing Technique could blow that absorbed hurricane back out exactly as it was.

He hadn't yet tested whether it could absorb ninjutsu.

He would have to find an opportunity to experiment with that later.

If he faced Senju Tobirama's test tomorrow at noon.

Hoshishaku felt that the meager tricks he had on hand wouldn't even be enough to tickle the man.

Therefore, "whitewashing" the Summoning Technique Ajisai had given him to increase his strength was an urgent problem that needed solving.

Moreover, it wasn't just about whitewashing the Summoning Technique; he also had to find a way to deal with summoning beasts and summoning items.

But the test was tomorrow; how could he whitewash a Summoning Technique and contract a summoning beast all within a single day?

"Sigh..."

With a long sigh, Hoshishaku stood up, intending to visit the elder in the clan who managed ninjutsu.

Regardless, he had to at least try to whitewash the Summoning Technique.

He hoped those old stubborn fools would be of some use.

The elder in charge of the clan's ninjutsu was named Hyuga Kazuya.

He was currently in a quiet room transcribing ninjutsu when a guard suddenly reported that Hyuga Hoshishaku had come to visit.

"Bring him in."

He gave the order and continued with his work.

This was the scene Hoshishaku saw when he entered.

A middle-aged man was hunched over a desk transcribing ninjutsu scrolls, with a whole stack of completed scrolls already beside him.

He clicked his tongue, feeling that these elders weren't all just occupying seats without doing work.

Take this one, for example; at the very least, he was busy working during his lunch break.

"Young Master Hoshishaku, are you looking for me because you need help with something?"

Hyuga Kazuya spoke first.

Hoshishaku sat down in the chair opposite the desk, trying his best to put on a well-behaved appearance, and said in a soft, sweet voice:

"Yes, Elder Kazuya, I've encountered a little difficulty and need your help."

Hyuga Kazuya raised an eyebrow, stopped what he was doing, and looked at Hoshishaku with some surprise.

He clearly remembered that when this child had caused such a huge commotion while practicing the Sealing Technique last night, his tone had been anything but humble.

He had even caused the clan's guard elder, Kawanagare Zo, to lose face.

Why was he acting like a toddler and talking to him like this now?

Hyuga Kazuya pondered for a moment, guessed the reason, and said directly:

"You want to learn the Sealing Technique?"

Hoshishaku's eyes darted around, and he nodded with a hum.

Hyuga Kazuya sighed and said, "If the clan had any Sealing Techniques recorded, you wouldn't be the one coming to find me; I would be the one begging you to learn them. To be honest, aside from the Uzumaki Clan of the Land of Whirlpools, I have never seen an outsider cause such a commotion with the Basic Sealing Technique."

Hoshishaku didn't feel it was a pity that he couldn't "freeload" a Sealing Technique. Anyway, he currently only had talent for space-time ninjutsu, and without obtaining a special talent for sealing, he wouldn't waste time learning it even if he got his hands on one.

"Elder Kazuya, since there are no Sealing Techniques, do you have any Summoning Techniques here? To be honest, I feel like I might have some talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu; otherwise, my Sealing Technique wouldn't have manifested so strangely."

Hyuga Kazuya nodded in agreement upon hearing this: "When you put it that way, it does seem so. It is a pity that our Hyuga Clan has only cultivated Taijutsu for thousands of years and never Ninjutsu, so we have never collected any Space-Time Ninjutsu. It truly is a shame."

As he spoke, he stood up and began rummaging through the shelves.

"Using the Summoning Technique requires signing a contract with a Ninja Beast in advance. You can go ask the Clan Head about that, but don't get your hopes up. As far as I know, no clansman has signed a contract with a Ninja Beast in the last few decades."

He continued to mutter while searching through the scrolls.

"By the way, I heard you have already mastered Rotation and the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms? What do you want to learn next? I'll find it for you all at once."

Hoshishaku stood up and walked over to Elder Kazuya. He glanced at the dense collection of Ninjutsu scrolls and did not stand on ceremony at all:

"I'll learn all of these."

Elder Kazuya turned around and flicked Hoshishaku on the forehead, his tone carrying a hint of dissatisfaction: "Do you understand that biting off more than you can chew is bad? For now, you will learn the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm first."

He then pulled out two scrolls without further argument, one labeled Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm and the other Summoning Technique.

When Hyuga Kazuya handed these two scrolls to Hoshishaku, he instructed him earnestly: "Although these are copies, you must return them after you have finished learning them."

Seeing that the items were in his hands, the matter of "legitimizing" the Summoning Technique was now a foregone conclusion.

Hyuga Hoshishaku thanked him happily and headed toward his small courtyard with the two scrolls in hand.

That afternoon, he spent half an hour pretending to study the scroll containing the Summoning Technique.

This was a performance to prevent prying eyes from suspecting anything.

After all, living within the Hyuga Clan, who could guarantee one hundred percent that there were no eyes monitoring the clansmen with the Byakugan activated?

Therefore, necessary camouflage was still required.

Afterward, he ran to the front courtyard and feigned attempts at the Summoning Technique.

It was not until the seventh time he slammed his palm onto the ground that the complete formula for the Summoning Technique appeared on the floor.

It looked exactly like someone who had learned the technique but had not yet signed a contract with a Ninja Beast, and thus, nothing was summoned.

After finishing his performance for the air, Hoshishaku began to study the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.

To tell the truth, the Hyuga Clan possessed eyes that could see through everything, yet they only used them for Taijutsu, or at most, to strike acupoints.

It was truly a waste.

The development of Hyuga Taijutsu should focus on long-range attacks.

Take this Vacuum Palm, for example; it could strike someone from over a dozen meters away.