Astonishment! A Technique Never Before Seen

"This is the formation for the Hyuga Clan's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!!"

The Anbu watching the battle were so astonished they were left speechless.

Anko also furrowed her brows tightly, never expecting their suspicions to actually be correct! This masked youth was clearly a talent from the Hyuga Clan, yet how could he be so unknown?

"As expected, a brat from the Hyuga Clan..."

Orochimaru frowned, his lips curling into a bitter smile.

Although he hated to accept it, he had to admit that he had been toyed with by a young Anbu!

"Two Palms!"

Orochimaru had no chance to resist now; he had to at least endure these first two strikes.

The masked Anbu youth moved with extreme speed, and even after a prolonged battle, there was not the slightest trace of him running out of stamina.

"Heh, taking two palms from you is nothing!"

Orochimaru had already mapped out his retreat; during the gap caused by his mistake, the youth could strike him at most six times, and he would use the Substitution Technique the moment he weathered those six.

Then, he would initiate a ninjutsu duel. When it came to ninjutsu, Orochimaru was confident he would not lose to anyone, including the Third Hokage.

He had underestimated his opponent; to think he had actually tried to engage this kid in a contest of taijutsu—he had truly looked down on him.

"Zzzzt!"

Neji struck both of Orochimaru's shoulders. Expecting only the force and the special effects of chakra, Orochimaru prepared to move, only to suddenly realize he was completely unable to budge!

"Nani?"

Neji's lips hooked upward; the lightning had been injected into Orochimaru's shoulders during those first two strikes.

"Zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt!"

"Four Palms!"

"Eight Palms!"

Neji muttered internally, stepping back and rapidly unleashing the subsequent strikes of the technique.

"What on earth is going on?"

Orochimaru's eyes widened, feeling his internal organs churn from the force of the Gentle Fist chakra. More importantly, his body was paralyzed by the lightning-natured chakra—a technique infused with nature transformation?

"Unheard of!"

Palm after palm, the youth's movements were incredibly swift and fierce.

Not far away, Anko and the two Anbu were left speechless!

Anko, in particular, had shock in her eyes that could no longer be described with words.

"This... this is too shocking!"

Although the lightning had not fully manifested its form and was merely incorporated into the palm technique via nature transformation, this was something no one had ever been able to achieve before!

Each strike was as fierce as a thunderbolt, moving with a speed that left no room for reaction. Orochimaru's body remained completely immobile, left to the mercy of the masked youth as he attacked his pressure points from all sides.

There was no doubt that in this taijutsu duel, Orochimaru had been thoroughly defeated!

And it was a total, unquestionable defeat!

"He added nature transformation to the Gentle Fist? And it's lightning-natured? Is this guy a genius?"

One of the Anbu murmured in surprise.

Anko, however, shook her head and said, "No, it's more than that."

"Whether this guy is even from the Hyuga Clan remains to be seen."

Anko became serious, not daring to jump to conclusions.

"What do you mean, Anko?" the stoic Anbu asked, looking at her hesitantly.

Anko took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

"Hyuga Tetsu was my teammate, a jonin of the Hyuga Clan. That guy was once called a ninja of immense talent, especially skilled in lightning-style nature transformation. Yet, even he said that the secret techniques of the Hyuga Clan rely on the essence of the Byakugan to refine chakra, which completely conflicts with the way nature-transformed chakra is refined..."

Anbu: "So, doing both at the same time is very difficult?"

"No, it is nearly impossible."

Anko's tone was even more resolute.

"It's not just about refining chakra in the same way; the Byakugan is a bloodline limit that targets pressure points and meridians, and when refining chakra, one must adhere to the Eight Trigrams' path of Yin and Yang and the principles of mutual generation and destruction. There cannot be any conflict for the Eight Trigrams to form."

Anko seemed quite knowledgeable on the subject, though that was the extent of it.

"In other words, the Byakugan can only be used when chakra is in its most original, natural state, especially for secret techniques like the Sixty-Four Palms. Attribute-based chakra is impure; it's impossible to integrate it. This guy shouldn't be from the Hyuga Clan."

After this analysis, the others nodded in agreement.

They were particularly stunned by the youth's footwork.

Just what kind of expert was he?

Right before their eyes, he was beating Orochimaru to a pulp!

And it was executed with a technique never seen before!

If Neji were to hear these things, he would likely laugh out loud, for Anko knew that the perceptions held by outsiders—including those regarding the Byakugan—were all one-sided.

At the beginning, Neji also found it difficult to break through certain restrictive frameworks, but he practiced incessantly, over and over again...

Although he started out just to cater to the system, he eventually fell in love with this endless training, becoming addicted to it!

It was only when he reached a certain level of mastery that Neji realized the importance of practice making perfect! Things he once refused to believe were possible could now be accomplished thoroughly; even something as complex as balancing two different chakra flows within his body had become effortless for him!

It was precisely because of this that Neji could now stake all the efforts of these past years on a single throw, reaching a level where he could even stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Kage-level ninjas!

"Urgh!"

Orochimaru opened his mouth wide, his eyes bulging, as his entire body was sent flying by Neji's final palm strike.

With a "crack," a sound almost like audible lightning, Orochimaru's entire body seemed to generate a static effect the moment it touched the air.

He flew over a dozen meters before landing, motionless.

Neji panted, sweat pouring down his face beneath his mask.

With this single strike, he had exhausted every ounce of his chakra.

Yet, the chakra in his palm remained; Neji used his Byakugan to observe the flow of chakra within his body...

The chakra in his palm was shaped like lightning, circulating with unparalleled swiftness.

"Did it work? A new technique!"

Though exhausted, Neji let out a breath of relief.

A jutsu this powerful required a formidable opponent to truly demonstrate its effects!

"Orochimaru, surrender now!"

Suddenly, two Anbu landed on either side of Orochimaru.

But even though Orochimaru appeared to be on the verge of death, they remained highly vigilant, unwilling to get even a step closer.

Anko approached Neji, walking right up to him.

Neji was startled and took a step back.

Anko stopped in her tracks.

"May I ask, Excellency, which expert are you?"

Neji was panting, his stamina already failing; he could not afford to drag this out any longer.

"Cough!"

Just as Neji was about to put on a show, a "poof" sounded from over there!

With a loud hiss, several more large trees crashed to the ground.

Two massive pythons, standing a staggering twenty meters tall, appeared before everyone's eyes!

Orochimaru, whose recovery ability was incredibly fast, stood up like a zombie. He glared at his own palm and thought to himself, As expected, my chakra has been sealed. It's the Hyuga Clan!