Early that morning, at the Hyuga Clan Compound, Hyuga Shinichi had woken up early because he'd forgotten it was the weekend and he didn't have to go to school. Unable to fall back asleep, he could only head to the training ground and begin his morning exercises.
After running a lap around the training ground to warm up, Hyuga Shinichi prepared to begin the day's training.
The main thing was to make his chakra flow steadily. He'd managed to use Wind-Style Sword Art: Wind Flow Coverage before, but even if no one else knew, Hyuga Shinichi himself understood.
Keeping chakra steadily attached to a sword took too much effort for him at his current level.
Many factors affected it. For example, he was still too young, and being able to do this much was already quite impressive.
Actually, there was another simple way to solve the problem of covering a weapon with chakra: Chakra Metal.
Chakra Metal had the property of absorbing chakra. If it was made into a sword, chakra—including chakra nature transformations—could easily be applied to it. The drawback was that it was incredibly expensive and rarely available. Even with money, there was no guarantee you could get much of it.
"Ah, I guess I'll just attach Wind Release chakra to a Kunai and keep training, like Danzo."
After saying this, Hyuga Shinichi assumed the opening stance of Taiji Fist. He recalled that back in college, in his previous life, he'd taken Taiji Fist as an elective and had been very interested in it. His instructor had been an elderly man with white hair and a white beard. He always wore a white training uniform, which gave him a very clean-cut appearance.
Seeing that he wasn't like the other students, who were only there to have fun, the old man had invited him to practice together every morning.
After practicing with him for several years, Hyuga Shinichi could tell the old man had genuine skill. Unfortunately, his age caught up with him, and he couldn't keep it up. He retired, and after that, Hyuga Shinichi never heard from him again.
"Use softness to overcome hardness, stillness to control motion. Use the technique, not force; use intent, not strength."
Hyuga Shinichi slowly recited the words the old man had taught him as he moved into the next posture. Then he stirred the chakra within his body, letting it begin to flow slowly with his "intent."
Hyuga Shinichi's idea was to avoid using the Byakugan to observe his own body. Instead, he would use the "intent" of Taiji Fist to control the flow of chakra and improve his mastery of it.
Hyuga Shinichi was so focused that he didn't notice the Wind Release chakra radiating from his body and flowing along with his movements. It caught the attention of the guards and some of the clan members within the compound. After using the Byakugan to investigate, they informed the clan head and the elders.
Soon, a group of people arrived at the training ground and saw Hyuga Shinichi looking as if he were trapped inside a small whirlwind.
Some of them activated their Byakugan and saw that Hyuga Shinichi was guiding the Wind Release chakra within his body to flow with his movements.
As for the Taiji Fist he was practicing, it wasn't the same style as the clan's Gentle Fist, though the forms were similar. No one thought much of it. After all, Hyuga Shinichi was from the Main House and had been exposed to the methods of Gentle Fist training from an early age. He might simply have opened up a different path for himself.
But the clan members who were skilled in Gentle Fist and highly capable thought differently. Their eyes lit up when they saw Hyuga Shinichi's Taiji Fist, and some even began studying it on the spot.
After a long while, Hyuga Shinichi seemed to finish and began to settle into his closing stance. Just as one clan member was about to go over and ask him about it, Hyuga Shinichi kicked up the wooden sword lying nearby, caught its hilt in his right hand, and assumed a new stance.
Hyuga Shinichi had his back to the others and his eyes closed, focused on controlling the flow of chakra within his body. He had entered a state similar to introspection, so naturally he hadn't noticed anyone had arrived.
The Hyuga clan member who had wanted to question him glanced back at the clan head, Hyuga Nimitsu. Seeing Hyuga Nimitsu shake his head to indicate that they should keep watching, he stepped back.
This time, Hyuga Shinichi's movements grew slower and slower.
He was practicing Taiji Sword, which the old man from his previous life had also taught him. He remembered what the old man had said while sitting nearby and watching him practice.
"Fast sword is easy to learn; slow sword is hard. The slower you go, the harder it gets. Slow down the sword, steady the heart."
Taiji Sword was mainly about cultivating the mind, and it could also help train the flow of chakra. Wind Release chakra began to swirl around Hyuga Shinichi once more, flowing slowly along with every sword movement.
Hyuga Nimitsu watched Hyuga Shinichi's back in silence. For a moment, he seemed to see Hyuga Shinichi's father, Hyuga Taiwa, who had also been a genius of the Hyuga Clan.
Sadly, an old injury had flared up, and he had died young. Otherwise, he could have risen to a very high position within the clan, and Hyuga Shinichi wouldn't have been so overlooked.
The other Hyuga elders who had come to watch also had their own thoughts. They could see that Hyuga Shinichi's extraordinary talent was already beyond the bounds of genius.
Whoosh!
After completing his final movement, Hyuga Shinichi concentrated all his chakra in the wooden sword and thrust it forward. The Wind Release chakra followed the thrust, let out a sonic boom, and then dissipated into the air.
Hyuga Shinichi let out a long breath and looked at the wooden sword in his hand. This was the first time he'd practiced Taiji Sword in this life, and he'd shattered the tip of the wooden sword. He gave a helpless, wry smile.
"I borrowed this wooden sword from Nawaki. Now that I've broken it, I'll have to think of a way to make it up to him."
It was only an ordinary wooden sword, but he'd borrowed it from someone else. Judging by its carving, it didn't look like a cheap item.
What Hyuga Shinichi didn't know was that the wooden sword in his hand was just one of the toys First Senju Hashirama had casually made for children to play with.
Hyuga Shinichi was still thinking about how to make it up to Nawaki when he turned around and saw a group of people staring at him with their Byakugan activated. For a moment, he felt the full weight of their gaze.
"Hyuga Shinichi, was what you just practiced Gentle Fist? It's very different from what the clan teaches, but it doesn't seem inferior at all. How did you come up with it?"
The Hyuga clan member who'd wanted to ask him about it had his face almost right up against Hyuga Shinichi's, startling him.
Hyuga Shinichi took a step back and put on the innocent look of a child before answering bluntly.
"I was practicing Gentle Fist, just moving according to how I felt and thinking about when it would be better to apply force. Then it turned into this."
"Is that so? Can you perform the whole thing again?"
From the look of the stranger in front of him, he was clearly a martial arts fanatic. After seeing the Taiji Fist and imagining its effects, he'd been excited ever since.
"That's enough! Everyone, disperse and get back to what you were doing. Hyuga Shinichi, come with us."
A Hyuga elder spoke, and everyone dispersed to get back to their own business.
Inside the Hyuga Clan meeting room.
The two clan heads, one from the Main House and one from the Branch House, sat in the seats of honor. Standing on either side of them were Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga, who were being groomed as the future successors of their respective houses. The four clan elders were already seated.
Including Hyuga Shinichi, who was also standing, facing the others, there were nine people in all.
Hyuga Shinichi had figured out that this was because of the Taiji Fist he'd practiced. He'd practiced it alone before, but since he hadn't used chakra, no one had noticed.
He couldn't understand why practicing Taiji Fist had attracted so much attention. Taiji Fist had plenty of benefits in his previous life, but surely that didn't warrant such a spectacle.
What Hyuga Shinichi didn't know was that, combined with chakra and the effects of the Byakugan, Taiji Fist was in no way inferior to Gentle Fist.
Gentle Fist was a Taijutsu that sent one's own chakra into an enemy's body, damaging the chakra pathways and internal organs.
Taiji Fist had shown them a new path for the Hyuga Clan. With the Byakugan, they could see how it used weakness to overcome strength, small force to overcome great force, and an opponent's momentum against them—using a little force to move a thousand pounds. It overcame hardness with softness and relied on skill rather than brute strength.
Previously, in hand-to-hand combat, whoever had greater strength and better technique could win. The emergence of Taiji Fist made them question that belief. As long as they didn't face an enemy who overwhelmingly outclassed them, it could greatly improve their chances of defeating their enemies and surviving.
On a larger scale, if every member of the Hyuga Clan mastered Taiji Fist, it could raise the clan's strength to a whole new level.
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