Gentle Fist VS Earth Grudge Fear

Hyuuga Nen activated his Byakugan. Under the gaze of his Byakugan, Hyuuga Nen discovered that Kakuzu's body was unlike that of an ordinary person; the organs within him were connected by a dense web of black threads, resembling pulsating black blood vessels.

What was even more astonishing was that Kakuzu's body lacked the meridian system found in normal humans. Where the meridians should have been, they had been replaced by the black stitches of the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique, and the flow of chakra within Kakuzu's body was also entirely different from others.

Looking at this body of his, I wonder if Gentle Fist will have any effect. Hyuuga Nen thought to himself as he charged toward Kakuzu.

Seeing Hyuuga Nen rushing toward him, Kakuzu retreated in a hurry, hoping to put some distance between them while commanding the two black masked monsters to attack from behind Hyuuga Nen.

The two black masked monsters simultaneously spat out air bullets and fireballs, striking the path ahead of Hyuuga Nen to block his approach to Kakuzu.

Because Hyuuga Nen had already activated his Byakugan, his three-hundred-sixty-degree field of vision allowed him to see the masked monsters' attacks without needing to look back.

Hyuuga Nen easily dodged the monsters' attacks, but due to this delay, the distance between him and Kakuzu had widened once again.

Facing an enemy with Kakuzu's strength, I have no opportunity to use elemental ninjutsu in this fight. I must find a chance to close the distance and engage him in close-quarters combat; that is the only way I have a chance to defeat him!

Hyuuga Nen dodged while running toward Kakuzu, silently reciting these thoughts in his heart.

Hyuuga Nen threw a kunai attached with an explosive tag at Kakuzu to prevent him from attacking, while simultaneously keeping a portion of his attention on the two monsters behind him.

"Here it comes!"

Hyuuga Nen said in his heart, and within the vision of his Byakugan, he clearly saw the two black masked monsters behind him mobilizing the chakra in their bodies and gathering it toward their mouths.

In that instant, Hyuuga Nen concentrated the chakra in his body into his feet and erupted with a burst of speed, his body suddenly lunging forward. The attacks that should have hit him from the front were left behind in his wake.

"Gentle Fist: Body Strike!"

As his figure lunged forward, Hyuuga Nen forcefully erupted chakra from the tenketsu on his back, neutralizing a portion of the attacks from behind.

"Boom, boom."

Hyuuga Nen burst out from the thick smoke. From the front, he appeared unscathed, but if one were to look from behind, they would see that his hair and clothes had been scorched, and his exposed back bore signs of burns.

Using the shockwave of the explosion, Hyuuga Nen's speed increased significantly, and before Kakuzu could react, he flashed directly in front of him.

"Gentle Fist!"

Although Hyuuga Nen called out "Gentle Fist," his movements were wide and sweeping, fast and fierce, forcing Kakuzu to retreat repeatedly.

Taking a palm strike from Hyuuga Nen head-on, Kakuzu took advantage of the retreat to weave a single hand seal, and a black luster appeared over his body.

"Earth Release: Earth Spear!" Kakuzu shouted.

Hyuuga Nen pressed forward, continuing to suppress Kakuzu with Gentle Fist.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang."

In the close-quarters collision of fist against flesh, Hyuuga Nen and Kakuzu's strikes produced thunderous sounds. Caught in the wake of the battle, the ground was covered in cracks.

Under the effect of this ninjutsu, Kakuzu's strength and defense have increased, especially his defense, which has been greatly enhanced. However, his speed has slowed down significantly, and most importantly, this ninjutsu cannot block my Gentle Fist! During the battle, Hyuuga Nen reached this conclusion.

Break through his defense. As this thought flashed through his mind, Hyuuga Nen increased the output of his Gentle Fist chakra. Facing the slowed Kakuzu, Hyuuga Nen's palms easily imprinted themselves onto Kakuzu's chest.

With two "crack" sounds, the Earth Release technique coated in black light on Kakuzu's chest was instantly shattered by Hyuuga Nen's Gentle Fist. Kakuzu flew backward, rolled on the ground a few times, and then stood up with some difficulty.

"This is impossible. My Earth Spear can only be broken by Lightning Release!" Kakuzu coughed a few times, clutching his chest, and looked at Hyuuga Nen in disbelief.

"Ninjutsu is composed of chakra; that is the essence of ninjutsu. Therefore, all ninjutsu is nothing before Gentle Fist, which destroys targets by injecting chakra."

Hyuuga Nen looked at Kakuzu and replied indifferently.

However, after being modified by the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique, Kakuzu's body has become like a monster. If it were an ordinary person, they would have died instantly after taking that hit from me. Hyuuga Nen thought silently to himself.

"Impossible, you're lying. If that were the case, the Hyuga Clan would have long since been the number one clan in the ninja world," Kakuzu retorted, attempting to refute his claim.

"Believe what you want."

Hyuuga Nen was, of course, bluffing. While Gentle Fist chakra did have a certain restraining effect on ninjutsu, that effect was limited and not particularly obvious.

As for what Kakuzu said about the Hyuga being the number one clan, Hyuuga Nen thought that perhaps in the near future, the Hyuga Clan would indeed make such a claim.

"Your secret technique doesn't seem to be of much use before my Byakugan and Gentle Fist, Kakuzu," Hyuuga Nen said, looking at Kakuzu, trying to provoke him with his words.

"Don't try to provoke me. I have seen too many of these little tricks in my decades of fighting." Kakuzu had calmed down by now, staring intently at Hyuuga Nen.

"Before my Byakugan, you have no secrets. Your plans are destined to fail." Hyuuga Nen ignored Kakuzu's words and continued to taunt him.

"You arrogant brat, you will pay the price soon enough." Kakuzu glared at Hyuuga Nen with murderous intent.

Although Hyuuga Nen was doing this to provoke Kakuzu, what he had just said was the truth; Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear secret technique really did not pose much of a threat to him.

In the few probes just now, Hyuuga Nen had already gathered clear intelligence on Kakuzu. These black masked monsters were composed of a large number of black threads, and although these threads were tough, they still could not withstand Hyuuga Nen's attacks.

In the battle against Hyuuga Nen, Kakuzu only had two advantages: his richer combat experience and the fact that his ninjutsu had a longer range than Hyuuga Nen's attacks.

Under Hyuuga Nen's Byakugan, the advantage brought by Kakuzu's combat experience was almost completely neutralized. The only thing Hyuuga Nen feared was Kakuzu's long-range ninjutsu.

If Kakuzu were to split off more monsters to fight him, that was something Hyuuga Nen did not want to see. After all, Hyuuga Nen still relied on taijutsu as his primary method of attack, and his short reach was his weakness.

If Kakuzu really used more monsters to attack him, it would be difficult for Hyuuga Nen to mount an effective counterattack, and he would likely be worn down to death. Therefore, he hoped to use verbal attacks to make Kakuzu retract those monsters into his body.

If Kakuzu were truly afraid of his Gentle Fist and retracted the monsters, Hyuuga Nen was confident he could take Kakuzu out in one go if he found the right opening.

He hadn't realized it before, but through this battle with Kakuzu, Hyuuga Nen discovered that the Byakugan, this Kekkei Genkai, was truly powerful—unexpectedly so.

As the two looked at each other, trading verbal barbs, the same thought flashed through both their minds:

He is stalling for time!

"He's stalling for time!"

As he spoke, Hyuuga Nen began forming hand seals. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

After splitting into two shadow clones, the three versions of Hyuuga Nen began weaving seals in unison.

At the same time, opposite Hyuuga Nen, Kakuzu indeed retracted the two black monsters back into his body. A series of "click-clack" sounds emanated from Kakuzu's frame as the two black monsters slowly emerged from his shoulders, making him appear as though he had three heads.

The two monsters on Kakuzu's shoulders opened their mouths, emitting a blinding chakra glow as they unleashed Fire Style and Wind Style simultaneously.

"Combined Ninjutsu: Searing Migraine! Go to hell!"

Under the influence of the Wind Style Gian, the range and speed of the Fire Style Zukokku were vastly amplified. Wherever the sea of flames passed, trees and earth alike were instantly incinerated, leaving behind nothing but charred remains.

Watching the rapidly encroaching sea of fire, Hyuuga Nen's two shadow clones readied their own ninjutsu, opening their mouths toward the incoming inferno. "Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique! Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

"Combined Ninjutsu: Wind Fire Tornado!"

This combined ninjutsu was one Hyuuga Nen had learned from Aoki; he had mastered it after only a single attempt.

Although Hyuuga Nen's shadow clones had unleashed their ninjutsu, the original Hyuuga Nen did not release any technique after finishing his hand seals. Instead, he assumed a defensive stance, his eyes fixed intently ahead.

The two combined ninjutsu collided in the middle of the battlefield. After a brief stalemate, a violent explosion erupted, causing the previously controlled techniques to spiral into chaos and unleash a destructive force akin to a natural disaster in every direction.