Byakugan VS Storm Release

Aida looked at the young man with the Byakugan before him, feeling both shocked and furious. He was shocked that someone so young could possess such strength.

His fury stemmed from the fact that the boy had completely ignored his warnings and killed his comrade just moments ago.

Aida couldn't help but lament how enviable Konoha Village's foundations were; geniuses kept popping up one after another, filling those of them from outside villages with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

Hyuga Lan looked at the Cloud ninja who had jumped out to stop him, his expression remaining largely unchanged. Aside from the Fourth Raikage and the two Jinchuriki, no one else in the Cloud Village was worth his focused attention. While the man before him was no simpleton, he wasn't enough to make him shrink back.

"To have such strength at such a young age, you must be an incredible fellow even within the Hyuga branch family. Your name is Hyuga Lan, right? Remember, the one who kills you is Aida."

Hearing the other's arrogant declaration, Hyuga Lan simply said, "Noisy!"

Quite arrogant, though it was a pity that a genius who hadn't truly matured amounted to nothing.

Aida loved nothing more than torturing such young geniuses to death.

"You lot go deal with the others; leave this brat to me."

Hearing Aida's command, those Cloud ninja who had already been somewhat terrified by Hyuga Lan immediately chose to distance themselves from the area.

Soon, only Hyuga Lan and Aida remained on this stretch of the battlefield.

Such a situation didn't matter to Hyuga Lan; fighting one was the same as fighting a group, provided he wasn't facing the Fourth Raikage or the Jinchuriki.

No matter how strong the others from the Cloud Village were, it was impossible for them to keep him there.

Watching Hyuga Lan charge toward him, Aida knew very well that engaging in close-quarters combat with a member of the Hyuga Clan, who possessed the Byakugan and excelled in the Gentle Fist, was extremely dangerous. He hurriedly dodged backward while weaving hand signs.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

A pillar of water erupted from Aida's mouth, transforming into a massive wave to block the incoming Hyuga Lan.

Facing the surging wave, Hyuga Lan quickly wove hand signs and pushed both palms forward.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A hurricane erupted from his palms, whistling toward the massive wave.

Boom!

The hurricane tore a gap directly through the wave, revealing Aida's figure behind it.

Watching Hyuga Lan continue to close the distance, Aida maintained the Water Formation Wall while continuing to weave hand signs.

As he finished his signs, bolts of lightning suddenly emerged from his body and struck toward Hyuga Lan.

"Lightning Release: Gekishin!"

Seeing Aida release Water Release and Lightning Release simultaneously, handling the combination of water and lightning as if it were second nature, Hyuga Lan realized the man before him must be a Storm Release ninja.

Was he hiding his strength, only to wait for an opportunity to ambush him with Storm Release?

Facing the incoming lightning, Hyuga Lan pushed off the ground with force, leaping into the air to clear the range of the Lightning Release attack and continuing his assault on Aida.

He fell for it!

Watching Hyuga Lan in mid-air, a flash of malice crossed Aida's eyes.

Aida wove hand signs rapidly, then slammed his hands together, a dazzling light condensing between them.

"Storm Release: Laser Circus!"

Several lasers shot out from the light between his joined hands, racing fiercely toward Hyuga Lan.

Seeing the laser beams flying toward him, Hyuga Lan, suspended in the air, narrowed his eyes as a massive amount of chakra surged into his Byakugan, making his eyes appear increasingly translucent.

As his ocular power increased, everything around him seemed to slow down—the result of his heightened perception.

Through his powerful insight, he grasped the trajectory of the opponent's Storm Release attack. Hyuga Lan shifted his body rapidly in mid-air, narrowly brushing past the laser beams and dodging the Storm Release attack by a hair's breadth.

Just as he landed and prepared to close in on Aida again, he saw the man rotate his arms, and the laser beams that had already flown past suddenly turned around in unison, flying back toward him.

Is this a guided attack?

No wonder Storm Release was always described as electrified water or flowing electricity; the power of this Kekkei Genkai ranked among the best of them all.

Combined with its powerful guidance capability, it was not only far superior to standard Lightning Release ninjutsu in power but also incredibly precise. It was an excellent Kekkei Genkai, and it was no wonder that Darui, also a Storm Release user, would go on to become the Fifth Raikage.

Facing the returning Storm Release technique, Hyuga Lan knew it was too late to dodge again.

He pivoted his body and struck out with a palm he had been charging up.

"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!"

A massive amount of chakra erupted from his palm, manifesting like a glowing giant hand to block the incoming Storm Release lasers.

Watching Hyuga Lan attempt to counter his technique with nothing but an Eight Trigrams Palm, Aida couldn't help but sneer inwardly at the boy's overestimation of his own abilities.

The sharpness of a Storm Release attack could never be blocked by a mere Eight Trigrams Palm. He had already begun to envision the boy failing to block his technique and being left severely wounded.

Boom!

The force of the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm collided with the Storm Release lasers, creating a deafening roar followed by a blinding flash of light.

When the light faded, Hyuga Lan's figure was revealed, completely unscathed, and by this time, he was already within arm's reach of Aida.

This... how is this possible?

As a long-renowned Storm Release ninja, Aida understood the power of his own techniques very well. Based on his past encounters with members of the Hyuga Clan, a mere Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm should never have been able to counter his Storm Release. What on earth was going on?

In truth, Aida did not know that the power of the Eight Trigrams Palm was inextricably linked to the user's chakra. Now that Hyuga Lan had awakened the Tenseigan, the quality of his chakra had undergone a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering transformation.

Even when he was not in the Tenseigan-activated state, the quality of the chakra within his body far surpassed that of any other member of the Hyuga Clan.

Precisely because of this, the same technique wielded by Hyuga Lan naturally possessed a vastly different level of power.

Furthermore, he had guessed from the very beginning that Aida was a Storm Release ninja. Having prepared himself mentally and strategically, the scene that just unfolded was the result.

However, Lan had no intention of explaining these things to Aida at this moment. Taking advantage of the other man's confusion, Lan closed the distance to launch an assault.

Close-quarters taijutsu combat was the very domain in which the Byakugan excelled.

"Gentle Fist Art..."

Watching Hyuga Lan assume the starting stance of the Gentle Fist, Aida felt a surge of panic; fighting a member of the Hyuga Clan at close range was far too dangerous.

If he were careless and struck by the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist pressure point strikes, he would be in grave danger. Yet, with Hyuga Lan already pressed against him, he could find no opportunity to create distance.

Bang, bang, bang...

Hyuga Lan unleashed his stance and engaged Aida in close-quarters combat. Although he was a few years younger than his opponent, meaning his body had not yet reached its peak development, he relied on the insight of his Byakugan and his mastery of the Gentle Fist to seize a moment of negligence from his opponent, using a pressure point technique to seal his chakra pathways.

It's over!

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Bang, bang, bang...

As Hyuga Lan finished executing the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms on Aida, the man collapsed completely to the ground, his life or death unknown.

Just as Hyuga Lan finished off this troublesome fellow and wanted to catch his breath, a roar reached his ears.

"Go to hell, brat! Lariat!"

The next moment, a figure enveloped in lightning appeared at Lan's side, a hand chopping toward his neck...