Seal of Confrontation

After finishing lunch, the group of four arrived at the waterfall where Hyuga Shinichi had been training.

Hyuga Shinichi prepared to have a spar with Nawaki first.

Namikaze Minato ran over as well, volunteering to act as the referee for the two.

"Alright, get ready to begin!"

Hyuga Shinichi and Nawaki locked eyes and simultaneously performed the Seal of Confrontation.

As the battle commenced, the two instantly engaged in a fierce exchange of offense and defense. Amidst the flurry of punches and kicks, Nawaki was forced to retreat repeatedly, left with no choice but to remain on the defensive.

From the sidelines, Jiraiya could see that Nawaki's taijutsu was being completely crushed by Hyuga Shinichi, so the next phase would inevitably be a contest of ninjutsu.

Nawaki, on the field, thought the same. Abandoning his defense, he balled his right hand into a fist and threw a right hook toward Hyuga Shinichi's face, hoping to interrupt his offensive rhythm and force him to defend, which would allow him to leap away and create distance to unleash his ninjutsu.

However, Hyuga Shinichi saw through Nawaki's intent. He caught the incoming right wrist with his own right hand and squeezed firmly, causing Nawaki to wince in pain and loosen his clenched fist.

Seeing this, Hyuga Shinichi extended his left hand and began weaving hand signs using Nawaki's trapped right hand.

"What!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Hyuga Shinichi took a deep breath, then puffed out his chest, his eyes locked onto Nawaki, whose right hand was still held fast.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down Nawaki's face.

Following this, Hyuga Shinichi exerted all his strength, blowing a powerful gust of air toward Nawaki. This current was like a violent storm, bearing down on Nawaki with relentless force.

Nawaki felt the immense power of the blast, but he did not retreat; instead, he gritted his teeth, attempting to withstand the raging wind pressure.

However, Hyuga Shinichi's strength far exceeded his expectations. As he released Nawaki's trapped hand, the violent wind pressure acted like a ferocious beast, ruthlessly blasting Nawaki away.

Nawaki's body tumbled through the air, but Hyuga Shinichi did not let up, his hands moving rapidly through hand signs.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"

Several small spheres of wind-natured chakra were spat from Hyuga Shinichi's mouth, shooting toward the airborne and still-falling Nawaki like bullets.

"Damn it, watch this! Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

Chakra gathered in Nawaki's throat, and he spewed a waterfall-like volume of water from his mouth, forming a rotating wall of water that blocked the Vacuum Sphere projectiles.

Nawaki managed to find an opening to return to the ground and steady himself. Seeing Hyuga Shinichi charging toward him, he quickly performed hand signs and slammed his hands onto the ground.

"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spears!"

Sharp earthen spikes erupted continuously from the ground beneath Hyuga Shinichi's feet, thrusting directly at him. Hyuga Shinichi had no choice but to keep leaping to dodge the attacks.

It wasn't until he had jumped fifty or sixty meters away that the spikes stopped. Looking at the Rock Pillar Spears he had just evaded, he noted they weren't attacking one by one, but rather surging forward in a dense forest of stone.

Hyuga Shinichi couldn't help but think that Nawaki really had a massive amount of chakra. Looking at him now, hands on his hips with a smirk, it was clear this attack was a piece of cake for him, requiring no effort at all.

Nawaki had tested his chakra affinities as water and earth long ago, but Hyuga Shinichi knew that Nawaki lacked the vitality and constitution of his grandfather, Senju Hashirama, and thus could not meet the conditions to artificially synthesize Wood Release.

However, Nawaki had been researching something with Orochimaru recently, which was the source of his immense confidence.

"Haha, Shinichi, are you going to surrender? I haven't even used my full strength yet!"

Because Hyuga Shinichi couldn't get close to him, Nawaki assumed he had seized control of the situation and that victory was in sight. His eyes flashed with confidence as he boasted to Hyuga Shinichi.

Hyuga Shinichi's mouth twitched. How had this guy become so cocky? He didn't realize that when he used to duel Nawaki, he would use the same taunts to keep Nawaki's temper in check.

"As if I've been using my full strength. The warm-up is over; the real duel starts now!"

In the distance, Nawaki saw Hyuga Shinichi close his eyes immediately after speaking, his right hand reaching for the sword on his back while his left hand formed a single-handed seal before his chest. He realized Hyuga Shinichi was about to use his true skills, as Hyuga Shinichi's greatest strength was not his taijutsu or ninjutsu, but his swordsmanship.

But Nawaki felt his own ninjutsu was nothing to sneeze at, so he dropped his smile and began weaving hand signs rapidly.

Jiraiya and Namikaze Minato, watching from the sidelines, were also focused intently on the two; until the very end, no one could say for sure who would win.

This was because Nawaki had mentioned while chatting with them that morning that he had developed a ninjutsu specifically to counter Hyuga Shinichi, one that would definitely neutralize his swordsmanship.

Hyuga Shinichi finished his single-handed seal, gripped the Listen-to-Wind Sword on his back, and slowly opened his tightly shut eyes. An invisible pressure radiated from his body.

As the Listen-to-Wind Sword was drawn, a massive amount of wind-natured chakra erupted around Hyuga Shinichi's body.

"Byakugan! Wind-Riding Sword Technique: Sword-Counter Wind Barrier!"

This technique involved enveloping his entire body in a massive amount of wind-natured chakra to create a domain, granting an effect similar to absolute defense. Any attack that touched the wind-chakra domain would automatically trigger a counter-strike of sword energy.

The key to this move was the Byakugan. Relying on the Insight Eye ability of the Byakugan, he could observe the changes in the surrounding environment with extreme clarity.

This allowed him to perceive every attack directed at him, causing the wind-natured chakra to automatically launch a sword-energy counter-attack. Even if the sword energy failed to deflect the incoming attack, it would continue to strike back until no more attacks were sensed within the domain.

Of course, Hyuga Shinichi could not maintain this technique for long; it consumed too much chakra, as he had to constantly vent wind-natured chakra from his body.

If he stood still, he could maintain it for about a minute, but if he moved to charge at an opponent, he could hold it for less than ten seconds.

However, against Nawaki, Hyuga Shinichi felt ten seconds was more than enough!

"Wind Release: Wind Step!"

Wind-natured chakra condensed beneath Hyuga Shinichi's feet, acting like thrusters that propelled him rapidly toward Nawaki.

Across from him, Nawaki finished his hand signs and slammed his hands onto the ground.

Through the Byakugan, Hyuga Shinichi could see that the ground within a radius of about thirty meters, centered on Nawaki, was beginning to change—and he was right in the middle of it.

The ground bubbled with a yellowish hue, swelling to its limit before bursting open.

"Hyuga Shinichi! This move is specifically for you! Don't get scared now! Take this! Combined Earth-Water Style Ninjutsu: Mud Swamp Thousand Hands!"

No sooner had Nawaki finished shouting than the soil began to dampen and churn, countless arms formed from viscous mud erupting from the earth to claw at Hyuga Shinichi.

Hm?!

Hyuga Shinichi was stunned by the sight, failing to react until the mud hands breached his domain, triggering the sword qi that severed the limb and snapped him back to reality.

"Nawaki, this technique of yours is truly incredible!"

Possessing the Byakugan, Hyuga Shinichi could naturally see exactly what was happening: using Earth Style to soften the ground, Water Style to saturate the soil, and finally chakra to manipulate the wet mud into grasping hands—this was Nawaki's new technique!

At first, Hyuga Shinichi had assumed Nawaki had developed a Kekkei Genkai, but it turned out to be a combined ninjutsu.

The sword qi generated by the Sword-Counter Wind Barrier sliced through the encroaching mud hands, but their numbers continued to swell, prompting Hyuga Shinichi to decide on a swift resolution.

He leaped with all his might, escaping the reach of the mud hands and aiming to dive toward Nawaki from the air. Seeing this, Nawaki manipulated the mud hands to intercept him, but none could break through the Sword-Counter Wind Barrier.

Just as he was about to reach Nawaki, Hyuga Shinichi suddenly felt a wave of weakness, and the Sword-Counter Wind Barrier flickered and vanished!

Hyuga Shinichi could only land and frantically swing his Listen-to-Wind Sword, severing a few reaching mud hands, but more grabbed his legs, pinning him in place. Seeing this, Nawaki broke into a triumphant grin.

At that moment, an endless stream of mud hands surged from all sides, swallowing Hyuga Shinichi whole...