Fierce Battle

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm is merely one of the techniques of our Hyuga Clan. We possess far more formidable secret arts, though it seems the Uchiha dare not engage my clan in a direct confrontation." Hyuga Ningbo withdrew his Gentle Fist stance, shaking his head with a sigh.

"Damn it! With the Senju of the Forest gone, the Uchiha Clan is the new premier noble house of Konoha. The mere Hyuga Clan is truly laughable... cough, cough!"

Supported by Inuzuka Jin, Uchiha Kenichi shouted with agitated fury. However, as he struggled to stand, the violent movement aggravated his injuries, forcing him into a fit of hacking coughs that left his face twisted in agony.

"Then, Uchiha Kenichi, can you tell me why you, a member of the premier noble house, were defeated by the Gentle Fist of my Hyuga Clan? In a direct clash, the Uchiha Clan is far inferior to us. This so-called title of the premier house is nothing more than a delusion you Uchiha use to deceive yourselves!"

Hyuga Ningbo's indifferent tone only fueled Uchiha Kenichi's rage. He snapped his crimson eyes open, a boundless killing intent radiating from them as if he wished to fight to the death. Yet, with his pressure points sealed, his chakra could no longer circulate, rendering him powerless.

He could only struggle forward a few steps before collapsing to his knees, gasping for air as if he had exhausted every ounce of his strength.

Uchiha Kaoru glanced at the disheveled Uchiha Kenichi, her crimson eyes devoid of ripples. "If you intend to use such methods to force me into a taijutsu duel, you will be disappointed. The Uchiha Clan's way of fighting is not about taijutsu, genjutsu, or ninjutsu, but about using these eyes to find flaws and defeat the opponent..."

"Is that so? What a pity..."

Seeing his provocation fail, Hyuga Ningbo slightly crouched, resuming his Gentle Fist stance. His white eyes remained fixed on Uchiha Kaoru's movements. Based on the previous exchange, this woman was extremely vigilant, making it impossible to close the distance. His only remaining option was to counter her moves and outlast her.

A man's stamina naturally exceeds a woman's; perhaps that would be the key to victory!

"Then, receive this!"

Uchiha Kaoru let out a sharp cry, drawing eight shuriken from the pouches on her thighs. With a flick of her wrists, they streaked through the air toward Hyuga Ningbo in eight arcs. She did not stop there, continuing to draw more shuriken from her pouches...

Her hands moved with such blinding speed that her arms became a blur of countless phantoms. Shuriken after shuriken flew out, colliding with those already in the air. Sparks showered down as the projectiles struck one another, turning their original trajectories into a chaotic mess, like countless bouncing glass marbles.

Uchiha Shuriken Jutsu. This is a technique that can only be utilized by those possessing the Sharingan. With superior dynamic vision, one can precisely control the landing point of every shuriken, then throw kunai to disrupt the original paths.

One collides with two, two with four, four with eight... The orderly flight paths become chaotic, losing all predictability. Yet, under the aid of advanced dynamic vision and specialized throwing techniques, these erratic shuriken can all be directed toward the same target.

Such a chaotic trajectory is impossible for an ordinary person's eyes to track, let alone evade!

Hyuga Ningbo's expression turned grim, for even his eyes could no longer track the path of these shuriken. He had no choice but to continuously unleash Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm from his position, firing concentrated bursts of high-intensity chakra to scatter and strike down the dancing projectiles.

The downed shuriken embedded themselves into the ground, piling up until they were dense and countless, enough to trigger a phobia in any observer.

Uchiha Kaoru's technique shifted once more. Several shuriken that Hyuga Ningbo had dodged were struck by her follow-up projectiles, forcing them to curve and attack from behind, aiming for his lower back, heart, and the hollows of his knees.

The ability to alter attack trajectories through throwing techniques, launching strikes from the opponent's visual blind spot, was nothing short of miraculous!

However, for the Hyuga main house, attacks from the rear could be tracked by the Byakugan just as easily as those from the front. The problem was that the space in front, behind, and all around Hyuga Ningbo was filled with rapidly spinning kunai, all converging on him.

There was only one way to handle this.

Hyuga Ningbo crouched lower, his hands forming an 'eight' shape as he entered the stance for the Gentle Fist. Facing the kunai attacking from all directions, he released a massive amount of Gentle Fist chakra from his internal points and began a circular, spinning motion like a top, whipping up dust and fallen leaves.

A high-speed, tornado-like vortex appeared out of thin air, forcing everything around him into a rhythmic, high-velocity circular motion.

Before the countless shuriken could strike this spinning vortex, they were deflected by the high-speed chakra threads, sent flying away in random directions with even greater speed, force, and range. The others present were caught in the wake and forced to retreat over twenty meters before they could stop.

Uchiha Kaoru's Sharingan dynamic vision allowed her to easily dodge the stray shuriken. Even as she evaded, she continued to throw more, her hands moving with such speed that the projectiles piled up on the ground, growing ever more numerous...

Sato Hideaka looked on, observing the dense forest of shuriken embedded in the earth; he estimated there were no fewer than three hundred of them!

Yet Uchiha Kaoru did not stop. The air was filled with the clanging of metal and flying sparks as the shuriken swarmed like a dark cloud. This continued for four minutes until she, standing atop a large tree, finally ceased her assault, her chest heaving as she caught her breath.

By now, the shuriken deflected by Hyuga Ningbo's Rotation were densely packed into the soil; a careful count would reveal no fewer than two thousand.

This woman had maintained a throwing speed of six per second for six minutes straight.

It was truly terrifying!

Sato Hideaka, hiding in the grass, swallowed hard. It seemed he would need to develop a 360-degree, omnidirectional defensive ninjutsu; otherwise, he wouldn't last ten seconds against such shuriken mastery.

As Uchiha Kaoru ceased her attack, Hyuga Ningbo spun a few more times before wobbling to a halt, ending his Rotation.

His condition was far worse than Uchiha Kaoru's. He was gasping for air, sweat beading on his fair skin and soaking his grey-and-white kimono, his usually neat hair now disheveled.

Clearly, the Hyuga Clan's Rotation was an incredibly stamina-draining technique. If this continued, Hyuga Ningbo would likely be the first to collapse. He decided to change his tactics, placing his hands behind his back and charging toward Uchiha Kaoru, intent on a close-quarters taijutsu duel.

This time, Uchiha Kaoru did not retreat or use kunai to harass him as she had before. Instead, she seemed to invite him in, waiting until he reached a certain distance before her hands began to weave signs—

"Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger..."