Hanabi's Rotation

After leaving Snake Auntie's secret base with the Flying Thunder God Technique, Qiuyang raced toward Konoha at full speed.

He returned to Konoha just in time to see Sakura punch Naruto into a wall as he was about to show Konohamaru his new Sexy Jutsu.

What a familiar scene!

He sighed with feeling but didn't go over and ruin the Twelve's reunion.

Instead, just like when the story had begun, he stood with his arms folded on a tree branch, watching the people in the distance bicker with amusement.

This was the warmth of everyday life in the world of Naruto!

"Qiuyang, it's been so many years. I thought you'd rush over and tell your teacher how much you missed him!"

Jiraiya had appeared on a branch above Qiuyang at some point. He was also watching Naruto in the distance as he spoke.

Qiuyang chuckled. He was feeling very relaxed. "Come over to my place for a drink tonight, Teacher. Then I can tell you all about how much I 'missed' you."

He added in a quiet voice, "Not long after you and Naruto left, I brewed several jars of wine. I've been waiting for you to come back and drink them."

"Oh, oh! I'm touched you remembered what your teacher likes. I'll bring a few pretty young ladies over tonight..."

Qiuyang: "..."

Teacher Jiraiya, couldn't you stop ruining this hard-won atmosphere?

Nearby, Kakashi had successfully caught up with Naruto. After getting his hands on an unpublished copy of Icha Icha Paradise, he took Sakura and Naruto to the place where they had once fought over the bells, to test their training progress.

Hearing the voices from over there, Jiraiya asked with interest, "What do you say? Want to have another bell-stealing contest with your teacher?"

"Some other time, Teacher Jiraiya. I have something very important to take care of."

Jiraiya looked down at him. "What could be so important?"

What could be more important than testing his students?

Qiuyang nodded and pointed toward the foot of the tree.

Jiraiya followed his gaze and only then noticed a pretty little girl standing beneath the tree.

Her pale eyes were turned upward, fixed on Qiuyang.

"Oh, I remember her... Hiashi's younger daughter, right?"

Jiraiya clicked his tongue.

He had never agreed with the Hyuga Clan's distinction between the Main Family and the branch families. He had even heard rumors that the Main Family had harmed members of the branch families for the sake of the clan's interests, which had left him with a poor impression of the clan.

After greeting her casually, he hurried over to Naruto.

Qiuyang jumped down from the tree and looked at the little girl, whose height had almost reached his chest. "Hanabi, how did you know I was here?"

They weren't strangers to each other. That was probably because Qiuyang had occasionally returned to the village over the past two years to teach Hanabi.

"My sister told me Naruto would be back today. And, Teacher, you haven't been back to the village in almost six months."

The little girl sounded rather aggrieved.

Qiuyang quickly praised her for being so good at putting the clues together—she had figured out that if Naruto was coming back, then he would be coming back, too. That cheered her up a little.

"Besides, didn't I tell you not to call me Teacher? Think about how little older I am than you."

"I don't care. Father told me to call you that, so you're my teacher!"

"..."

Hiashi, you've really made things difficult for me...

Qiuyang sighed and headed over to Naruto's group with his little shadow in tow. But he wasn't going to watch the protagonist's bell test. Instead...

Jingle, jingle—

When they reached a spot not far from Naruto's training ground, Qiuyang produced a cute little bell from who knew where.

"See this bell, Hanabi?"

"Mm!"

"You've been learning Shurikenjutsu for a long time these past two years, along with the jutsu I taught you. I don't know how strong you are now, so..."

As he spoke, Qiuyang hung the bell from his waist and took out a Konoha Headband, tying it around his forehead.

At the sight, Hanabi's pale eyes lit up, brimming with fighting spirit.

For the past two years, she had continued learning the Hyuga Taijutsu and Byakugan her father taught her, while also studying some jutsu from her teacher.

Her father still insisted that the Byakugan was the strongest. So she was eager to fight her teacher and find out whether that was really true.

A breeze swept by.

Unlike his first clash with Sasuke, where their blades had met in a flash, Qiuyang formed the Shadow Clone hand seals the moment the breeze made Hanabi squint.

He wasn't going to take a fight with the little girl seriously. This was only to test her abilities. As soon as his five Shadow Clones appeared, they quickly hid in various concealed spots.

Hanabi wanted to test the strength of her Byakugan. Rather than use Shurikenjutsu, she charged at Qiuyang as soon as she spotted him, intent on taking him down with Taijutsu.

One down... two down... three down...

But gradually, something began to feel wrong.

Why was every one she took out a Shadow Clone? By now, more than a dozen of her teacher's clones had vanished in puffs of smoke at her hands.

After all that exertion, she was drenched in sweat and panting hard.

The drawback of focusing solely on Taijutsu, as the Byakugan did, was already becoming clear.

Unless she was strong enough to use the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm for a ranged attack, a nimble enemy could easily wear down her chakra by keeping her at a distance.

Seeing that she had been worn down enough, Qiuyang and the Shadow Clones hidden nearby threw Shuriken, kunai, and other ninja tools at Hanabi.

With the Sharingan helping him track the action, he and his clones deliberately controlled the trajectories of their weapons. To Hanabi, they seemed to be flying at her from every direction, targeting every blind spot.

Thanks to the Byakugan, Hanabi barely dodged the first few. But the number coming at her was more than she could evade or deflect.

With a sharp snap, a kunai cut the hair tie holding up her long hair. Her waterfall of hair came loose and fell around her.

Watching the little girl's condition, Qiuyang was considering whether to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to rescue Hanabi from the middle of the battlefield.

Unexpectedly, the girl suddenly began spinning at high speed.

As she spun faster, a semicircular field of white chakra formed around her, enveloping her body and blocking every incoming kunai and Shuriken.

Huh, wasn't that the Hyuga Clan's...

Qiuyang was astonished. His Sharingan's Tomoe carefully tracked the flow of chakra in the swirling mass below.

He hadn't expected Hanabi to use Rotation in the midst of a crisis.

"Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation."

Hanabi gradually stopped spinning once she had blocked the attack.

The ground around her had been gouged nearly half a meter deep by the Rotation, and all sorts of ninja tools that had been aimed at her lay scattered around her.

Clap, clap, clap...

Seeing her teacher appear in front of her, applauding, the little girl's lips curved into a wide smile despite her exhaustion.

"Brother Qiuyang, I can't believe I figured out how to use Rotation during our fight. I've been practicing for two years without managing it!"

Hanabi even stopped calling him Teacher and used a much more affectionate form of address.

How could she not be happy?

Her father often talked about how Neji had already mastered Rotation and the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms at such a young age, while she and her sister could barely manage the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms.

Now she had finally lived up to her father's expectations.

"Hanabi, you think learning Rotation makes you really strong, don't you?"

"Isn't it...?"

Qiuyang considered his words, then decided it would be better to show her. He assumed the stance for the Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation.

"Come on. Attack me with the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique I taught you last time."

Brother Qiuyang's stance... Could he use the Hyuga Clan's Rotation, too?

That was impossible.

Hanabi pulled out a Shuriken from her pouch and threw it, then quickly formed the hand seals.

"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

The single Shuriken split into two, then four... until sixty-four Shuriken were flying toward Qiuyang.

That was nowhere near the 256 Shuriken Brother Qiuyang had made when he showed her the technique, but it was the most she could manage for now.

Qiuyang didn't dodge. Instead, he closed his eyes, as if he hadn't even seen the Shuriken.

He imitated the flow of chakra he had just recorded with his Sharingan, releasing chakra from the tenketsu throughout his body as he began to spin.

"Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation..."

Not only Hanabi, but even Jiraiya and Tsunade, who had been drawn over and were secretly watching, were stunned.