The Youngest Chunin

"Hmph! Your Gentle Fist? Such arrogance! You brat from the branch family! You've exposed your true body, which means you've already lost!" Hyuga Hiroshi lunged forward, his palm striking toward Riyue's chest. Riyue's Byakugan had long since perceived the shift in Hyuga Hiroshi's muscles.

"Oh? You intend to strike my chest?" Riyue said calmly, as if he had foreseen Hyuga Hiroshi's movements well in advance, leaving the man startled.

With his right palm mere centimeters from Riyue's chest, Riyue casually swiped it aside. Simultaneously, he transformed his palm into a finger, jabbing toward Hyuga Hiroshi's arm. Hyuga Hiroshi reacted quickly, attempting to dodge.

"Hmph! Trying to dodge to the right?" But Riyue's finger followed like a shadow, changing direction instantly. It was as if he were waiting for Hyuga Hiroshi's arm to deliver itself onto his fingertip. Smack! The finger landed squarely on his arm.

"Waiguan Point!" Hyuga Hiroshi felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his arm as Riyue used a needle of chakra to completely disrupt the meridian.

At the same time, Riyue's other hand was already striking toward another point on his right arm. Hyuga Hiroshi hurriedly used his left hand to block.

"Tianjing Point!" Riyue seemed to know exactly how he would parry. Smack! He struck with blinding speed, landing the blow first.

"Ah!" Hyuga Hiroshi couldn't help but let out a miserable scream; Riyue had crippled another of his points.

"Daling Point!" Without a moment's hesitation, Riyue struck again with a backhand. Three points were disabled in the blink of an eye, and Hyuga Hiroshi's right arm went limp.

"Damn brat!" Hyuga Hiroshi gritted his teeth and launched a counterattack with his left hand, hoping to force Riyue to abandon his assault.

"Oh? You want to strike my right shoulder again?" Riyue's words sent a chill through Hyuga Hiroshi. Riyue tilted his body slightly, and the strike missed.

"Xiaohai Point!" Simultaneously, Riyue backhanded a finger into his elbow. The sharp pain turned into numbness, as if the arm no longer belonged to him.

"Quchi! Quze!" Riyue showed no mercy, his strikes growing faster, attacking from both sides. Hyuga Hiroshi's entire forearm had lost all sensation and was completely paralyzed. Terror gripped him, and he lunged backward, trying to pull his arm away.

"At a time like this, you still think you can pull back?" A cold voice echoed in Hyuga Hiroshi's ear.

Hyuga Hiroshi roared internally: Impossible! It's impossible! He couldn't possibly predict my movements!! Unfortunately, Riyue's actions shattered his delusions. Riyue's left hand had already clamped tightly onto his right arm; there was no retreating now.

"Zusanli! Kongzui! Shaohai!" The sword-finger struck three times in rapid succession. Hyuga Hiroshi's right arm was covered in dense, overlapping finger marks. He struggled desperately to pull his arm back, but with Riyue refusing to let go, escape was impossible.

"Xiabai! Chize! Lieque!" Riyue continued his relentless assault. After striking these points, Hyuga Hiroshi's right arm had swollen into a bruised, purple-red mess, all vital points thoroughly crippled.

"Ah! Let me go, you little beast!" Hyuga Hiroshi roared and thrashed like a madman, his face twisted and hideous, completely devoid of his earlier arrogance and pride.

Hyuga Hiroshi swung his left palm toward Riyue's face, but Riyue dodged the attack with ease. Riyue, with his Byakugan activated, was a completely different fighter than one relying solely on experience and reaction!

"Want to run? Get lost!" Riyue suddenly released his grip. Hyuga Hiroshi, not expecting to be let go, stumbled and nearly fell. Clutching his right arm, he retreated repeatedly, quickly putting distance between himself and Riyue.

"Ha, ha! Damn you! You actually crippled the points and meridians in my right arm! Good, very good!" Hyuga Hiroshi sneered. Having finally broken free, he glared viciously at Riyue, his killing intent undisguised. He wanted a frantic revenge! He wanted Riyue dead! Ignoring his right arm, which had turned a bruised purple and was swollen like a radish, Hyuga Hiroshi channeled all his strength into his left palm, preparing to unleash the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.

Riyue looked at the disheveled Hyuga Hiroshi, his eyes filled with cold pride. He raised his left hand toward Hyuga Hiroshi, his sword-finger pointing steadily at him.

"Die, you little beast! [Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm]!" Hyuga Hiroshi thrust his palm forward, and a shockwave surged toward Riyue at high speed. He had used his full strength! The blast of air was already upon Riyue's face! Hyuga Hiroshi revealed a cruel smile: "Die! Die!"

Riyue did not move, merely uttering a few words:

"[Gentle Fist Art: Thirty-Six Death Point Strike]!"

The next moment, Riyue's figure vanished instantly. The shockwave struck only empty air as Riyue appeared directly in front of Hyuga Hiroshi—[Body Flicker Technique]!

Riyue's extended left finger jabbed straight into the center of Hyuga Hiroshi's chest.

"Danzhong!" Hyuga Hiroshi's body stiffened instantly, his consciousness blurring.

Without a moment's pause, Riyue raised his right hand and struck violently.

"Jiuwei!"

Riyue's hands moved in tandem, back and forth.

"Juque! Shenque!"

Riyue's figure flickered, his fingers dancing, striking faster and faster.

"Qihaishu! Guanyuan! Zhongji! Qugu!"

Riyue's hands became a blur, striking from top to bottom.

"Yingchuang! Ruzhong! Rugen! Qimen! Zhangmen! Shangqu!"

Riyue's feet danced, his movement style ethereal and ghostly, shifting rapidly to strike Hyuga Hiroshi's limbs.

"Jianjing! Taiyuan! Zusanli! Sanyinjiao! Yongquan!"

Riyue took a step, performed a grand rotation, and slid behind Hyuga Hiroshi, striking as he moved.

"Feishu! Jueyin! Xinshu! Shenshu! Mingmen! Zhishi! Qihaishu! Weilü!"

Finally, Riyue leaped high, performing a backflip to land above Hyuga Hiroshi's head. Upside down, he unleashed a final, frantic flurry of strikes.

"Baihui! Shenting! Taiyang! Ermen! Jingming! Renzhong! Yamen! Fengchi! Renying!!!" His fingers struck these nine points in an instant, too fast for the naked eye to follow—a torrential assault!

Riyue performed another flip in the air, landing with his back to Hyuga Hiroshi, and withdrew his hands.

In truth, it had taken Riyue less than three seconds to land all thirty-six strikes. The frontal assault took one second; then, circling Hyuga Hiroshi with ethereal footwork, he unleashed a flurry of strikes in another second. Finally, the leap and the aerial strikes took the last second.

Hyuga Hiroshi stood motionless, his gaze vacant, like a puppet.

The entire arena was silent, everyone staring blankly at the center.

The members of the Uchiha Clan had long since activated their Sharingan, trying to track Riyue's movements; they had never seen this technique before.

The Hyuga clan members were stunned into silence. Could the Gentle Fist be used this way? Why did these point strikes produce such strange, unseen effects? The points Riyue struck were also highly peculiar, many of them previously unknown. Even more shocking was that Riyue's strike speed was in no way inferior to the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. While the Sixty-Four Palms attacked in a single direction, Riyue's technique circled the enemy, requiring ethereal and deceptive footwork. How fast must one's movement be to keep up with such strike speed? Most importantly, this technique was Riyue's own creation!

The Hyuga Clan Head thought to himself: Could this child from the branch family be the one who truly inherited the perfect bloodline of the Hyuga clan?! Five years old! At five, he has actually created a new Gentle Fist technique!

The Third Hokage laughed and nodded: "Hahaha, this kid is something else! He even made me worry for nothing. Danzo, it seems being too 'realistic' isn't always a good thing."

Danzo said nothing. Though his face appeared expressionless, the muscles at the corners of his jaw twitched rhythmically.

The two advisors also stared straight at Nichigetsu. Mitokado Homura fixed his gaze on the boy and asked, "Koharu, what was the name of that technique just now? Koharu?"

"Huh? What did you ask me?" Utatane Koharu finally snapped back to reality.

The expressions on the faces of the others were equally spectacular.

"Is this... is this really a five-year-old child?"

"That move was too fast. What exactly just happened?"

"The Hyuga Clan has produced an incredible genius!"

In truth, Hyuga Hiroshi's raw strength was superior to Nichigetsu's; his defeat stemmed from a lack of tactical intelligence. Nichigetsu had already probed Hiroshi's capabilities using a Shadow Clone, and he understood the Hyuga style far too well, whereas Hiroshi had no idea what trump cards Nichigetsu held.

The "Gentle Fist Art: Thirty-Six Death Point Strike" was a technique Nichigetsu had created himself. It relied on his ghostly, agile footwork to circle the enemy while striking thirty-six lethal pressure points at blinding speed. This was the result of Nichigetsu's grueling practice of point-striking and Eight Trigrams footwork. He had started by practicing the strikes while moving back and forth, gradually increasing his speed and finger strength until his movements became spectral and his attacks razor-sharp. He had practiced until he could shatter the pressure points of wooden dummies and grind the earth beneath his feet into dust. Ultimately, he developed a technique that could strike all thirty-six points in a single breath, pushing his speed and mobility to the absolute limit.

Nichigetsu had intentionally crippled Hiroshi's right hand at the start to force him to rely on a single hand for his Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. Hiroshi had assumed that at such a distance, Nichigetsu couldn't reach him, never imagining that Nichigetsu would use the Body Flicker Technique as an opener. Nor did he know that Nichigetsu would target his Danzhong Point. With one arm disabled and the other occupied by the Vacuum Palm, Hiroshi's chest was left completely exposed. The moment Hiroshi committed to the Vacuum Palm, he had already lost. Most people had never even heard of the thirty-six death points Nichigetsu targeted, making them nearly impossible to defend against. That was the secret to this crushing victory; had their intelligence been equal, the outcome might have been different.

Nichigetsu deactivated his Byakugan and turned to look at Hyuga Hiroshi, who was still standing there like a wooden statue. Suddenly, Hiroshi vomited a mouthful of blood, followed by blood seeping from his seven orifices. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing as he lost control of his bowels. The medical team rushed over immediately; they had been told to prepare for emergency resuscitation, though they hadn't expected the patient to be the one who had been attacking.

"Hyuga Hiroshi!" the Hyuga elder couldn't help but roar. He pointed at Nichigetsu in the arena and said in a deep voice, "Nichigetsu, you actually turned on your own kin with lethal intent! Your qualification should be revoked immediately! No, you aren't even fit to be a ninja!"

Nichigetsu looked up and gave him a cold, chilling glare that made the elder's heart tighten and a shiver run down his spine.

"I spared his life," Nichigetsu said slowly, his voice laced with arrogance. "I only used the force of my fingers; I didn't use any chakra needles, otherwise he would be dead already. As it stands, he'll be lucky if he isn't left a drooling, paralyzed vegetable."

"Nichigetsu, your methods are too vicious! He is a member of the Hyuga Clan!" the elder persisted, refusing to let it go.

Nichigetsu sneered. "Hmph! So what if he's a member of the Hyuga Clan? Did he show any mercy when he used the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms against me? If that hadn't been a Shadow Clone, the one lying there paralyzed would be me! Besides, this is the Chunin Exam! I was obviously going all out. If he got hurt, he only has his own lack of skill to blame!"

Nichigetsu threw Hiroshi's own words back at the elder, a blatant, stinging slap to the face. The Hyuga elder felt his face burning with rage, his mustache twitching, but he couldn't find a single word to retort.

"Lord Referee, did I violate any rules? Are you saying that if my opponent is too weak to block my attacks and gets injured, I'm the one responsible?" Nichigetsu turned to look at the Jonin referee.

The Jonin shook his head. "You did not violate any rules. This is the way of the ninja. Hyuga Nichigetsu is the winner!" Everyone had seen Hiroshi's heavy-handed assault on Nichigetsu, and the referee despised such behavior. Since Hiroshi had tried to cheat and failed, justice naturally sided with Nichigetsu.

Nichigetsu nodded and bowed to Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Lord Hokage, does this mean I have passed the Chunin Exam?"

The Third Hokage nodded and announced loudly, "I hereby declare that Nichigetsu has passed the exam and is promoted to Chunin!"

The audience began to applaud. The applause grew louder and louder until, with the exception of Danzo and a few others like the Uchiha Clan, everyone was cheering for Nichigetsu's victory. Not for any other reason, but because they had witnessed a spectacular battle, seen Nichigetsu's sharp Gentle Fist, and watched a five-year-old child become a Chunin. The youngest Chunin in history! Hyuga Nichigetsu!

The head of the Hyuga Clan looked at the Third Hokage and said, "Lord Hokage, our clan hopes that Nichigetsu can remain within the family for focused training. You know his potential. As the clan head, I guarantee that we will pass on all of the Hyuga's secret arts to him."

Hizashi chimed in, "Lord Hokage, Nichigetsu is a member of our clan. We understand the combat techniques of the Byakugan and Gentle Fist better than anyone. Growing up in his own home is what's best for him."

The Third Hokage shook his head. "I think what Nichigetsu needs most right now is actual combat experience. You can teach him the secret arts of the Hyuga slowly over time, can't you?"

The Hyuga clan head pressed, "But, Lord Hokage..."

The Third Hokage waved a hand. "Nichigetsu is currently a student of that girl Tsunade, and you know her temper. Besides, Nichigetsu will always be a Hyuga. What is there for your clan to be anxious about?"

The Hyuga clan head pondered for a moment, then nodded. "I agree to let Nichigetsu go out for training, but he must still return to the clan to study."

The Third Hokage smiled. "Nichigetsu is a Hyuga by birth. How could I stop him from returning to his own home?"

The Uchiha elder led his people away in a hurry. On the way, he cursed loudly, spit flying onto the faces of his attendants. "A bunch of idiots! Why does the Uchiha Clan only produce fools? Why is it that the Hyuga Clan can produce someone like Hyuga Nichigetsu? From now on, double the daily training quota for the youths in the clan. Execute this immediately!"

"Yes, my lord!" The attendants dared not provoke him and could only nod subserviently.

This decision caused the Uchiha children to hear certain phrases for a long time to come, such as: "Look at Hyuga Nichigetsu's shuriken technique, and then look at your own level." "Why can't you learn from the Hyuga's Nichigetsu?" "If you had half the talent of Hyuga Nichigetsu, our family would have produced an elite of the Uchiha Clan." "You need to learn from Nichigetsu, do you understand?" "By the time you graduate, Hyuga Nichigetsu will already be a Jonin! You idiot!" Such conversations were everywhere.

In short, the "child of someone else" and the "child of the Hyuga Clan" filled the childhoods of the Uchiha children. They were filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred for the name Nichigetsu. Later, when Nichigetsu found out about this, he felt quite helpless, feeling that he had been caught in the crossfire for no reason.

Danzo left the arena with an expressionless face. He walked in silence until, suddenly, he swung his hand down hard, smashing his exquisite cane into two pieces before tossing it aside.

Danzo's face was so dark it seemed as if it might drip water. He roared in his heart, "That bastard Sarutobi! Very well! To think he kept this hidden from me for so long! What a sinister guy, and he moved so fast! To pull that boy into his inner circle so early."

"I was wondering why Tsunade would be so reckless in taking a student, and how a five-year-old could graduate from the Ninja Academy! For a moment, I actually thought it was because the boy's mother was from the Senju Clan and he was relying on that connection!"

"Hyuga Nichigetsu... this boy is steady, calm, clever, and cunning. His methods are ruthless, mature, and vicious. Hmph, and that astonishing talent and potential—this child is exactly the kind of talent 'Root' needs! Hmph! You greedy old monkey! There is still plenty of time. Don't get too smug, Sarutobi. The boy is only five; sooner or later, I will pull him into 'Root' and train him properly!"

Danzo was a very stubborn man. He would never easily give up on someone he had set his sights on. He would do everything in his power to obtain them, especially when it came to competing against his lifelong rival, Sarutobi Hiruzen—he was even less willing to admit defeat.