A cold glint flashed in Xingzhuo's eyes.
Just as he was about to make his move early,
and fulfill his promise by slapping the brat's face until it swelled,
a figure suddenly appeared beside the child and stopped him.
"Calm down, kid. That's no monster. Those are the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan."
Three more figures appeared nearby. One of them said with some discontent, "Hiruzen, why do you always have to show off?"
"Hiruzen, Sarutobi Hiruzen?"
Xingzhuo narrowed his eyes.
Could the other three be Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura?
He quickly sized them up: three boys and one girl, all around twelve years old. It fit.
The irritation on Xingzhuo's face gradually faded, replaced by seriousness and gravity.
Konoha's future F4, four immortal old men.
"What are you talking about, Danzō? If I hadn't stepped in, that kid would've been taught a lesson by that Hyuga brat."
As he spoke, he rapped the brat hard on the forehead with his knuckles.
And he hit the swollen bump dead-on.
The bump visibly grew a little bigger.
Its owner, the brat, fell silent for a moment, then immediately stopped struggling. The pain made him drop the brick in his hand. Clutching his head, he instinctively wailed and ran toward the alley he had come from.
His little friends had already vanished without a trace.
Xingzhuo committed the brat's face to memory, planning to get even if he had the chance.
Only then did he meet Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes.
But before the other boy could speak,
he spoke first. "Did you just call me a kid?"
Just then, Shimura Danzō walked over to Sarutobi Hiruzen. An impatient look crossed his face as he said, "Let's go. We've been training all day, and I'm exhausted. Ignore this Hyuga brat."
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't seem inclined to explain anything. He simply turned and started to leave.
Xingzhuo glanced at the duel mission, which hadn't changed at all, and realized that defeating an ordinary person might not advance its progress.
So in that instant, he came up with an idea.
He deliberately provoked them:
"Heh. Meddling in other people's business, pretending not to hear, and too afraid to own up to your insults. You really have no manners."
At his words, the four who had already turned to leave stopped in their tracks.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, the one accused of having no manners, had a dangerous look in his eyes. He turned back and asked, one word at a time, "Who did you say has no manners?"
Xingzhuo grabbed Yunfei's shoulder again and quietly instructed him, "I'm going to teach that ill-mannered guy a lesson myself. Just watch from the side. If they try to gang up on me, then you can step in."
Yunfei hesitated, but let his young master push him aside.
The four across from them had all changed expressions.
Xingzhuo hadn't bothered to keep his voice down. They had all heard him.
The other three looked uncomfortable, but Sarutobi Hiruzen stared fixedly at Xingzhuo, looking ready to teach him a lesson at any moment.
Xingzhuo stepped forward, speaking as he took off his jacket and tossed it to Yunfei.
"Come on, you Sarutobi guy. You first."
"Oh, right. Since you have no manners, do I need to say 'begin' for you? Then let's begin."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was already a little angry.
At those words, the last thread of his patience snapped. He darted forward, ready to pummel this kid, who was barely half his height.
"You nasty little brat!"
"I'll teach you some manners on behalf of your Hyuga elders!"
Xingzhuo assumed the Gentle Fist opening stance and charged forward, taking the initiative and seizing control of the fight.
"Teach me manners on behalf of my Hyuga elders?"
"Who do you think you are? You've got no manners yourself. What are you going to teach me with, that ugly, prematurely aged face of yours?"
Xingzhuo kept attacking as he insulted him, looking completely at ease.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, facing him, was practically fuming.
Not only did the brat send every punch he'd been holding back right back at him,
but with those nasty insults ringing in his ears and his companions laughing behind him,
he got so angry that he unleashed all his strength and taijutsu, attacking the boy with everything he had.
But every punch he threw was easily blocked, and every kick was sent back at him.
They exchanged more than a dozen blows, and he hadn't gained the slightest advantage!
He was getting utterly humiliated!
Even now, Xingzhuo didn't let up:
"What, did I hit a nerve? Do you think your face looks ugly and prematurely aged too, so you're too ashamed to answer?"
At Xingzhuo's words, Sarutobi Hiruzen's breathing grew heavier, and his face flushed with rage.
"Oh, or is it that you're so busy blocking because a kid much younger than you is beating you? Tsk, tsk. And you call that meddling in other people's business?"
Xingzhuo kept right on running his mouth.
"If you're going to meddle, at least have some patience. Why get annoyed just because you couldn't hold that kid back? And why hit him right on his swollen bump? That's why I say you have no manners."
Sarutobi Hiruzen had been unable to land a blow for some time. Hearing those insults, which didn't even contain a single curse word, nearly drove him mad.
Heaven knew, he'd only wanted to show off in front of his friends. How had he become such an utterly wicked person in the other boy's mouth?
"If you ask me, with a vicious and hypocritical mind like yours, you should sell your blood and open a Poison Quenching Workshop. You could bleed yourself regularly and use it to poison other people's weapons."
Xingzhuo chattered on, and Sarutobi Hiruzen's face grew redder and redder.
He wanted to insult Xingzhuo back, but he couldn't think of anything cutting to say. All he could do was shout in utter frustration,
"Enough, you little bastard!"
As he spoke, he suddenly jumped back and formed hand seals.
A clone appeared with a bang and charged straight at Xingzhuo.
Xingzhuo stepped forward and struck the clone, dispersing it, but he was already too late to stop Sarutobi Hiruzen from releasing another ninjutsu.
Fire Release: Great Flame Technique!
A fierce blaze burst from his mouth and shot straight toward Xingzhuo, who stood not far away.
At the sight, Sarutobi Hiruzen's three companions furrowed their brows.
Utatane Koharu, the only girl among them, spoke bluntly. "Hiruzen has gone too far. He's just teaching a little kid a lesson, yet he used the Sarutobi Clan's strongest family Fire Style Ninjutsu. I'm definitely telling our teacher tomorrow."
Mitokado Homura curled his lip, apparently disapproving of her threat to tell their teacher.
When Hyuga Yunfei saw the scale of that Fire Style Ninjutsu, he felt as if all the blood in his body were flowing backward.
Faced with a ninjutsu of this caliber, even he couldn't withstand it.
Just as he was about to risk his life to shield his young master,
Xingzhuo suddenly began releasing chakra from both hands and spinning.
"Is that... Rotation?!"
Yunfei blurted out in shock.
Rotation had originally been developed to compensate for the blind spots in the Hyuga Branch Family's vision.
But for some unknown reason, the Main Family had kept it under their control and rarely taught it to anyone.
And his young master hadn't even been confirmed as the next head of the Main Family. Whether he'd become part of the Main Family or the Branch Family six years from now was still uncertain.
So had he learned the secret Rotation technique on his own?
Before you continue