He Knows the Hyuga Clan's Secret Techniques Too?

"Wait, just tell me how you did that!"

The first to ask wasn't Hanabi, but Jiraiya, who came rushing up to Qiuyang.

Qiuyang using Rotation had shocked him no less than when Minato had first shown him the Rasengan.

One had mimicked a Tailed Beast Bomb to create an extremely dense sphere of chakra; the other had used a secret technique equivalent to a Kekkei Genkai despite belonging to a different clan.

It was... like a rooster that couldn't lay eggs suddenly laying one. It turned his worldview and understanding upside down.

Jiraiya studied Qiuyang from every angle for a good while, but couldn't figure out how he'd done it.

How had his perfectly ordinary student with Uchiha blood suddenly become a Hyuga?

In the end, he simply fixed Qiuyang with an unwavering stare, insisting that he explain himself.

Qiuyang smiled helplessly, pushed Jiraiya aside, and explained to Hanabi, who looked even more curious than before:

"The Hyuga Clan's Rotation and Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms ultimately work by releasing chakra through the body's pressure points. So, if your ability to observe movement is good enough, you can use a technique like Rotation too. For example..."

Qiuyang glanced at a nearby boulder, aimed his open palm at it, and shouted. The boulder burst apart with a crack.

"Hyuga secret techniques are really that simple?"

What do you mean, though??

Qiuyang had just shown Jiraiya something impressive, and Jiraiya's jaw was practically on the floor.

Hanabi, with her Byakugan activated, could see clearly:

Qiuyang had released a mass of chakra from the pressure point in his palm and struck the boulder, causing it to explode.

But this method of attack... wasn't it exactly what her father called the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm?

Were the techniques derived from the Byakugan really that simple in Qiuyang's eyes?

Hanabi thought, feeling rather dejected.

That wasn't actually the case. Just to release chakra through one's own pressure points required a ninja to spend years striking and strengthening them.

Ordinary people had trouble seeing the precise locations of their own pressure points, and they couldn't precisely control their chakra when striking them. Byakugan and Sharingan users, however, naturally had an advantage in this regard.

The Hyuga Clan in the Ninja World had probably recognized the Byakugan's advantages and developed a whole series of Gentle Fist techniques.

As for Qiuyang, he had abundant chakra in his body, and when he fused with Hashirama Cells, all his pressure points had been opened up in the process.

That was how he'd been able to copy Rotation so quickly and easily.

"So what you're saying is, you need a Sharingan or Byakugan—something that lets you clearly see chakra and pressure points—in order to use it, right?"

Jiraiya caught on too, resting his chin in his hand as he asked.

When Qiuyang nodded, Jiraiya immediately lost interest in learning it. Muttering to himself, he went back to watch the fight between Naruto and Kakashi, and relayed Qiuyang's explanation to Tsunade, who listened with a serious expression.

Hanabi's delight at having used Rotation successfully for the first time faded, and she lowered her head, her mood sinking:

"This is so boring. I thought the Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin was an exclusive secret technique of our clan. I never expected Brother Qiuyang to learn it so easily."

As he had before, Qiuyang patted the little girl on the head and said earnestly:

"What I used was, at best, an imitation of Rotation. It still can't give you the full 360-degree, gapless defense your version can. I just want you to understand one thing:

"Don't focus solely on training in Taijutsu."

Unless you could reach Guy's level, opening at least the Eight Gates, or use something like Kaguya's Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack.

Otherwise, whenever you encountered a faster enemy, you'd be at a huge disadvantage.

Take Otsutsuki Toneri on the moon. After his Byakugan evolved through transplantation, his ultimate techniques, "Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion" and "Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion," were both long-range attacks. Neither had anything to do with the Gentle Fist.

Hanabi listened and nodded thoughtfully, questioning her father's words for the first time.

But her assessment wasn't over yet.

After teaching the little girl this lesson, Qiuyang began a close-quarters Taijutsu spar with her.

Putting aside the drawback of being easily outranged by an enemy, the Byakugan's Taijutsu was pretty good overall. In close combat, you could get your pressure points struck before you knew it.

After seeing how strong the Gentle Fist was, Qiuyang simply took out a kunai and fought Hanabi with it. To his surprise, after a few exchanges, Hanabi broke it with a single palm strike.

Seeing the look of surprise on her opponent's face, Hanabi finally smiled again.

Qiuyang looked at the kunai snapped by the Gentle Fist with distaste, then tossed it to the ground.

He'd spent a lot of money having that custom-made. He hadn't expected it to be so fragile—or, to put it another way... the Gentle Fist did have its merits.

"That's enough for today! I'm sure now that you haven't been slacking off these past six months."

As he spoke, Qiuyang took the bell from his waist and used it to tie up the little girl's long, loose hair.

So the bell had been attached to a hair tie.

"Ask your father for leave in seven days. There's something important I need your help with."

Hanabi watched Qiuyang's retreating figure and gently shook her head. Then the bell on the hair tie behind her rang out with a clear, pleasant chime.

Even though she knew Qiuyang was already too far away to hear her, she still answered with a heartfelt "Mm."

That evening, while Qiuyang was busy cooking in the kitchen, he heard Jiraiya's voice at the door: "Come in! What are you shy about? Haha!"

Qiuyang's hand jerked, and he nearly dumped all the salt into the dish.

Come on, Pervy Sage, are you serious? I'm not into that!

Heaven help me—please don't let it be what I think it is!

Qiuyang anxiously poked half his head out of the kitchen and saw that the person coming in behind Jiraiya was Naruto. He finally relaxed.

Phew... If he'd really brought a pretty lady over, Qiuyang wouldn't have known what to do. Thankfully, he hadn't.

Naruto, awkwardly standing in the doorway, looked more and more appealing to him. Qiuyang hurried over and greeted them warmly:

"Hey, Naruto's here too? Come help me carry the dishes. Your senior prepared a welcome dinner especially for you and your teacher."

Qiuyang pulled Naruto into the kitchen. Naruto narrowed his eyes at his senior, who looked kind of cute in an apron, and really couldn't understand why the guy thought he deserved to compete with him for the Hokage's seat.

But this food... smelled amazing!! Uchiha Qiuyang, why not become a chef?

"What are you standing there for? Even if you really do become Hokage, you'll still have to eat. Come over and carry these plates out."

Qiuyang seemed to see right through Naruto's thoughts. He suddenly stopped what he was doing, turned to meet Naruto's eyes, and smiled.

It was a striking contrast to the way Qiuyang had always loudly declared that he'd compete with Naruto for the Hokage's seat.

Naruto didn't know that his senior was actually after the Nine-Tails inside him. He only felt that Qiuyang's gaze seemed to contain a deep curiosity.

"Carry the dishes!"

"Oh, r-right."

Naruto hurried over, picked up a plate in each hand, and fled the kitchen. Only after turning the corner did he feel that the intense gaze behind him had disappeared.

Qiuyang rubbed his chin, amused, and pondered:

How should I get a piece of the Nine-Tails from my dear junior? Hmm... This might be tricky!

After finishing the last dish, the Cumin Pork Ribs, and setting it on the table, Qiuyang went down to the basement to fetch the sake they'd agreed on earlier. He planned to drink Jiraiya under the table.