Gentle Fist Chakra

Hyuuga Nen walked over to Black Panther and sat down. "I've known you for so long, but I still don't know your name."

"Kuromaru. That's my name," Black Panther replied.

"Hello, Kuromaru. I'm Hyuuga Nen. I hope we get along."

As he spoke, Hyuuga Nen reached out his hand. Hearing this, Kuromaru extended his paw and gently placed it against Hyuuga Nen's hand.

"There are a lot of things I want to ask you," Hyuuga Nen said, thinking it over. "First, why did my father arrange for me to live outside Konoha?"

"Well, that was just a prisoner's impulsive attempt to seek freedom. He didn't think it through before doing it, and it put him, you, and your mother at risk."

Maybe it was his imagination, but Hyuuga Nen thought he heard a hint of reproach in Kuromaru's voice.

"What kind of person was my father?" Hyuuga Nen asked, choosing his words carefully.

"Your father was cautious, but also extremely hypocritical," Kuromaru said, sounding pitying and a little mocking.

From Kuromaru's assessment of his father, Hyuuga Nen sensed that their relationship had been different from what he'd expected. He asked, "Could you tell me about what happened between you and my father?"

"I used to live on a grassland in the Land of Fire. By chance, Taro and I learned how to wield chakra. Later, we met your father and signed a summoning contract. It's been over ten years now. But my contract with your father is one between equals, so, as you can see, I don't treat him with that much respect."

Kuromaru seemed to guess what Hyuuga Nen was about to ask and answered before he could.

"Okay, I understand. How much do you know about the Hyuga Clan?" Hyuuga Nen continued.

"I know quite a bit about the Hyuga Clan. After all, I spent over ten years with your father. I know almost all of his secrets."

As he finished speaking, Kuromaru's mouth curled into a slight smile.

"Getting back to the Hyuga Clan, they possess the Kekkei Genkai known as the Byakugan. Like the Uchiha Clan, they're a clan with a special ocular Kekkei Genkai. In Konoha, these two clans are known as the strongest."

Next, Hyuuga Nen asked Kuromaru about the Caged Bird, the Byakugan, and the system of the Main Branch and Branch Family. Kuromaru's answers were much the same as what Hyuuga Nen's father had written in the scroll.

Just as Hyuuga Nen was thinking about what else to ask, Kuromaru said, "Hold out your hand and gather chakra."

Hyuuga Nen didn't think much of it. He held out his hand, and Kuromaru placed a paw on his wrist.

After a while, Kuromaru lowered his paw and stared intently at Hyuuga Nen. "Your chakra is even more unusual than that of most members of the Hyuga Clan."

"What do you mean, the Hyuga Clan's chakra?" Hyuuga Nen asked, looking at Kuromaru in confusion.

"When you use elemental ninjutsu, have you noticed anything unusual?" Kuromaru asked, stroking his whiskers.

Hyuuga Nen thought for a moment. "Something unusual? Actually, yes. My elemental ninjutsu seems more powerful than what the scrolls describe, but it's slower to cast."

"Anything else?"

"If I try to cast ninjutsu faster, my meridians feel uncomfortable. It seems like casting ninjutsu puts more strain on them."

"That's exactly right. This is what makes the Hyuga Clan's chakra special. I call it Gentle Fist chakra. Every member of the Hyuga Clan has it."

"Compared to ordinary people's chakra, it's more destructive. No, saying it's only more destructive isn't quite right. It'd be more accurate to say that both its benefits and its drawbacks are more pronounced."

"When the Hyuga Clan uses elemental ninjutsu, it really is more destructive. But it also puts more strain on their meridians, so they have to slow down their casting. If they don't, their meridians will suffer serious damage, leaving them crippled. Non-elemental ninjutsu, of course, has a much smaller effect."

Hearing this, Hyuuga Nen was startled. "Then have I been affected?"

"If you haven't felt any discomfort in your meridians, then you haven't been affected. Even a minor injury will heal with rest, so there's no need to worry too much."

Only then did Hyuuga Nen feel reassured. Just then, Kuromaru continued.

"Because of this, the Hyuga Clan rarely uses elemental ninjutsu in battle. Instead, they developed a taijutsu style to replace it: Gentle Fist. Combined with the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, Gentle Fist can unleash tremendous power. The combination of ocular and physical techniques is what made the Hyuga Clan what it is today."

"So that's how Gentle Fist came about," Hyuuga Nen murmured.

"I've told you pretty much everything I know about the Hyuga Clan, Gentle Fist, and the Byakugan. Do you have any other questions?"

"This morning, I read the scroll my father gave me. It described Gentle Fist and Strong Fist, and their moves are clearly different. Why was Gentle Fist designed this way?" Hyuuga Nen asked, raising another question.

Kuromaru was taken aback by Hyuuga Nen's question, then smiled and nodded. "You're perceptive. I didn't expect you to have this thought on your very first day learning Gentle Fist. It seems the Hyuga Clan has produced another genius."

Hyuuga Nen felt a little embarrassed by Kuromaru's praise, but he couldn't say so outright. All he could do was awkwardly scratch his head.

"There are two main reasons Gentle Fist developed into what it is today."

As he spoke, Kuromaru extended his sharp claws and lightly scraped the ground. Then he drew them back and dragged his forepaw over the earth. Two grooves of different depths appeared.

"The first reason is force. The smaller the contact area, the greater the force. That makes it easier to drive Gentle Fist chakra into an enemy's body and damage their internal organs and meridians. That's why Gentle Fist has so many thrusting movements."

"The second reason is that Gentle Fist chakra can affect members of the Hyuga Clan too. They're much more resistant to it than ordinary people, but they're not completely immune to its harmful effects. So compared with Strong Fist, Gentle Fist's speed, power, and range of motion are all more limited. That's why it focuses more on keeping attacks subtle and precise, which makes it look a little more flashy than Strong Fist."

"These two reasons are what set Gentle Fist apart from Strong Fist. The Hyuga Clan developed Gentle Fist out of necessity. It made the clan what it is, but it also limited them. You could say it has both advantages and disadvantages."

Hyuuga Nen was astonished by all this—both by the secrets of Gentle Fist and by how much Kuromaru knew about it.

Seeing Hyuuga Nen's astonished expression, Kuromaru pursed his lips and said, "Actually, none of that was my idea. Your father told me. After all, I don't practice Gentle Fist."

"I had no idea my father understood Gentle Fist so deeply."

"Your father is already one of the strongest people in the Hyuga Clan. His understanding of Gentle Fist has reached its peak. But even so, he still can't escape its limitations."

"But you're different from the other members of the Hyuga Clan. Your Gentle Fist chakra is stronger than theirs. You may be able to find a path of your own—or you may fall even sooner."

"You need to pay closer attention to how Gentle Fist chakra affects you. Be especially careful whether you're using Gentle Fist or ninjutsu."

Hyuuga Nen nodded solemnly at Kuromaru's earnest warning.