Will of Fire, Seal of Resilience, and Seal of Delay

In the basement, Hyuga Nen sat on the floor. He reached out a hand to take the book before him, and on its cover were four large characters: "Will of Fire!"

The Will of Fire? No matter how I look at it, my father doesn't seem like the type to possess such a thing, Hyuga Nen thought with a hint of amusement.

Hyuga Nen opened the book and skimmed through it quickly. It turned out to be an introduction to his father and the Hyuga Clan.

In the book, his father revealed his name, Hyuga Shun, and explained some of his personal circumstances. He also provided a brief history of the Hyuga Clan, detailed the system of the Main and Branch Houses, and expressed his dissatisfaction with such a structure.

At the end of the book, Hyuga Shun focused on the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan and the Caged Bird seal. He warned Hyuga Nen never to expose the fact that he possessed the Byakugan, as there were too many in the ninja world who coveted the eyes of the Hyuga.

He also cautioned Hyuga Nen never to let the Caged Bird curse seal be carved upon him, or he would lose his freedom forever.

Closing the book, Hyuga Nen stared at the floor and muttered, "Although my father explained his own situation, he still didn't clarify why he left me outside of Konoha. What exactly does he want me to do?"

Hyuga Nen stopped pondering these unanswerable questions and opened the other scroll to study it carefully.

On the scroll, the first thing Hyuga Nen saw was the method for practicing the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist. The training methods for the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms, Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, Rotation, and even the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm were all recorded there.

Did my father obtain these training methods through official channels, or did he learn them in secret? Regardless, it makes no difference to me; I certainly can't let anyone see me using the Gentle Fist.

The scroll also contained some training methods for Strong Fist, such as the Konoha Whirlwind and Konoha Strong Whirlwind; these were likely Konoha-style Strong Fist techniques.

If I use these taijutsu, I must be careful not to be discovered.

Hyuga Nen continued reading: "Seal of Resilience, Seal of Delay?"

The Seal of Resilience was an advanced sealing technique formed by combining sealing arts with curse seal arts. This technique could enhance the effects of another jutsu, specifically by extending its duration and reducing its chakra consumption.

The Seal of Delay was an unconventional method of hand seals. Through this technique, a ninjutsu could be delayed for a period before activation. Naturally, this method had its limitations; it could not be used for techniques that were too difficult or consumed too much chakra.

I've never heard of this kind of sealing or hand-sealing method, but it looks incredibly powerful! Hyuga Nen suppressed his surprise and carefully read the introductions to these two techniques.

At the end of the scroll, Hyuga Nen's father specifically warned him that the difficulty of these two techniques was equivalent to S-rank ninjutsu, and he should not attempt to practice them until he was confident in his abilities.

It seems these two ninjutsu are my father's unique specialties. Hyuga Nen recalled the method his father used to seal his Byakugan when he was born; it must have been this Seal of Resilience.

Gentle Fist, plus two S-rank ninjutsu—it seems my father has passed on all the ninjutsu and taijutsu he mastered to me.

While Hyuga Nen felt excited, he also felt a sense of pressure and worry.

At night, while everyone was asleep, Hyuga Nen snuck out of the house and headed quickly toward the forest.

Hyuga Nen took this training very seriously. He brought a katana and prepared a ninja tool pouch filled with various weapons and items.

After a while, Hyuga Nen arrived at the forest to find Black Panther already waiting for him.

"Let's begin. Let me see what your combat experience is like." After saying this, Black Panther remained with his arms crossed, showing no signs of tension.

Hearing Black Panther's words, Hyuga Nen slowly lowered his stance, his eyes locked onto him. He drew a kunai from his pouch and threw it with force, aiming at Black Panther.

Facing the incoming kunai, Black Panther pushed off with his hind legs and leaped onto a tree trunk, effortlessly neutralizing Hyuga Nen's first probe.

Seeing Black Panther jump into the tree, Hyuga Nen paused for a moment, preparing to draw a second kunai to force him down.

"You can slow down the pace of the battle. I can already see that your combat experience is poor, but since we are training, you can think before taking your next action," Black Panther said leisurely.

Nodding, Hyuga Nen put the kunai back into his pouch and pulled out a small black pellet, slamming it hard against the ground in front of him.

With a "bang," smoke billowed out, obscuring Hyuga Nen's figure. Taking advantage of the lingering smoke, he began to weave hand signs: "Shadow Clone Technique!"

As the words left his lips, two shadow clones appeared beside him. "All together now!" With that, the three of them charged at Black Panther in a triangular formation.

Upon reaching the base of the tree, Hyuga Nen drew another kunai and threw it at Black Panther. Another Hyuga Nen, wielding a katana, used the Body Flicker Technique to leap into the air, appearing before Black Panther and slashing down fiercely.

The last Hyuga Nen ran up the tree trunk, attempting to engage Black Panther in close-quarters combat.

Black Panther crouched on the tree, watching the clones quietly. He first spat a blade of wind from his mouth, which flew rapidly toward the Hyuga Nen in mid-air, instantly piercing through his body.

Facing the incoming kunai, Black Panther tilted his body slightly, dodging the attack with ease.

Watching the Hyuga Nen climbing the tree, Black Panther simply extended his tail, wrapped it tightly around the clone's wrist, and yanked him into the air. Then, extending his sharp claws, he gave a light swipe, and the clone vanished with a "pop."

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Black Panther turned his head to see the Hyuga Nen below the tree had finished his hand signs. His mouth opened, and a massive red fireball emerged, flying rapidly toward him.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Facing the long-range attack, Black Panther also unleashed a ninjutsu. Gusts of wind erupted from his mouth, and as the fireball and the gale collided in mid-air, they triggered a violent explosion.

Amidst the explosion and the wind, Hyuga Nen was forced to close his eyes. Just then, he felt a sharp sting at his neck. It turned out that Black Panther had appeared before him at some point, his sharp claws pressed against his throat.

"It's over." With that, Black Panther retracted his claws, crossed his arms, and crouched on the ground, watching Hyuga Nen quietly.

Hyuga Nen stopped moving, feeling a wave of discouragement. "My combat experience is still too poor!"

Seeing that Hyuga Nen's expression was downcast, Black Panther said to him, "It is normal to lack combat experience when you train alone; it will improve with more practice. In the fight just now, using the kunai to probe was fine, but when I jumped into the tree, you clearly hesitated—that is a sign of inexperience. Later, using the shadow clones under the cover of smoke to attack, and the final execution of the Fireball Jutsu, were all performed well."

Black Panther then conducted a thorough summary with Hyuga Nen, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of his performance. Knowing such opportunities were rare, Hyuga Nen listened intently to Black Panther's analysis and advice.

"Alright, that's enough training for today. I can see you have quite a few questions you want to ask. Go ahead; I will answer what I can."

Seeing Hyuga Nen's hesitant expression, Black Panther seemed to guess what he wanted to do and spoke to him.