A Surprise

Just then, someone walked through the gates of the Riyue household. "Riyue, I'm home! Did you miss Big Sister Mizuki?"

"Huh? Big Brother Hiashi, Big Brother Hizashi? What are you doing here, too?" Mizuki came over with a backpack on her shoulders, looking dusty and tired. It seemed she had just returned from a mission outside the village.

"Big Sister Mizuki." Riyue was happy to see her and waved.

"Hey, Mizuki. We were just about to leave." Hiashi and Hizashi nodded to her, preparing to go.

"Riyue, why are Big Brother Hiashi and Big Brother Hizashi here?" Mizuki seemed to sense something was up and turned to ask Riyue.

"Let me explain." Hizashi told Mizuki what had happened.

"I'm going to confront Rixin!" After hearing the whole story, even mild-tempered Mizuki couldn't hold back her anger. She got up to go find Rixin.

"Riyue just spent a month in bed, and now he's causing trouble again. What did Riyue ever do to him? Why would he do this to Riyue? Is he trying to kill him? If no one will handle this, I'll go to the Elders' Council! I'll go to the clan head! Just because he's from the Main Family doesn't mean he can do whatever he wants!" Mizuki knew a little about the disputes between the Riyue family and certain members of the Main Family, but she could hardly believe that someone from the Main Family could be so despicable as to target a four-year-old.

"Don't get worked up, Mizuki!" Hiashi and Hizashi hurriedly held her back.

"Big Sister, forget it. I'm fine," Riyue said, trying to calm her down.

Mizuki meant well, but would the Elders' Council really turn against an elder of the Main Family over a four-year-old orphan from the Branch Family? Besides, Rixin was the one who'd done it. Whatever he'd done, his father could simply deny knowing anything about it. Even if they took it to the Hokage, it would be dismissed as a fight between children. An elder had killed Riyue's father? An elder of the Main Family wanted Riyue dead? Rixin had tried to harm Riyue with his father's backing? Where was the proof?

Riyue had seen this sort of thing plenty of times in his previous life. Back then, though, he'd been a doctor, and no one wanted to offend him. Plenty of people had tried to curry favor with him, since everyone got sick eventually—and Zhao Ming was a surgeon who could save lives. He'd lost count of how many red envelopes he'd turned down. After every surgery, the first thing he did was return the money. At class reunions, his classmates took turns plying him with drinks until his head hurt. Sigh, people were so calculating, even in another world. But in the Naruto world, strength mattered more.

Hiashi and Hizashi sighed, looking helpless. The Hyuga Clan wasn't under their control. They both hated the conflict between the Main and Branch Families and had wanted to resolve their differences. Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple.

Mizuki was finally talked out of it, since Riyue hadn't been hurt this time. Still, all three warned Riyue to be careful. Mizuki even insisted that he go out with her whenever he went into town, but Riyue politely declined. He wasn't afraid of Rixin's little tricks.

After seeing Hiashi and Hizashi off, Mizuki looked at Riyue, worried. He seemed to have changed ever since he'd been injured in the fall. Her kind, cheerful, easygoing cousin was still there, but he was no longer timid, weak, and tearful. He had become confident and composed, almost like a little adult.

"Riyue," Mizuki said, looking at him.

"Hmm?" Riyue was taken aback.

"You seem more mature and stronger now." Mizuki smiled.

"Uh... Big Sister Mizuki, could you do me a favor?" Riyue asked nervously, quickly changing the subject.

"What is it?" Mizuki asked, puzzled.

"Could you teach me how to use the Byakugan and Gentle Fist?" Riyue looked at her seriously.

"Of course, but you're still too young. Wait until you start school and learn to refine chakra..."

"Big Sister Mizuki, let's spar. I promised I'd give you a surprise, remember?"

Riyue smiled, his confidence plain to see.

The next day, Mizuki and Riyue went to an open space in the woods. They stood facing each other, ready to spar. Both of them wanted to see how strong the other was.

Mizuki smiled. "Come on, Riyue. Attack me as if you're prepared to kill me."

Riyue asked, "Aren't you going to activate your Byakugan, Big Sister?"

"If you can make me, a Chunin, activate my Byakugan, you win!" Mizuki said seriously.

"Then watch out, Big Sister." Riyue bent his knees, raised his hands, and took a fighting stance. Mizuki stood with her hands on her hips, waiting for him to attack.

"Bring it on!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Riyue sprang into action. He quickly threw a practice kunai straight at Mizuki, then flung four shuriken with his other hand, followed by another kunai. The kunai shot toward Mizuki. She nodded inwardly. Good aim and force.

She drew a kunai. Clang! She knocked the wooden kunai aside. The instant they made contact, she heard the sound of something cutting through the air on both sides. Two shuriken spun in C-shaped arcs, closing in on her from either side. Mizuki immediately jumped backward, and the shuriken crossed in front of her. Then two more came straight at her, one high and one low. She raised her kunai to block them. Just as she was about to knock away the first shuriken, both suddenly changed direction, tracing upside-down J-shaped arcs as they flew past her on either side.

Did he throw them off course? Four shuriken at once must still be too much for Riyue.

"Wait!" The next instant, she spotted the trick. After the two shuriken veered away, a kunai appeared from behind them and flew toward her. Mizuki instinctively tried to dodge to either side, but froze as she started to move. There was an "off-course" shuriken tracing an upside-down J on each side.

Mizuki reacted quickly, planning to jump backward and create some distance, giving herself time to block the kunai. She only needed half a second. But the sound of the wind behind her stopped her mid-jump. The two shuriken that had crossed in front of her at the start had changed direction in midair, tracing two S-shaped paths as they circled behind her. Their trajectories formed a figure eight, blocking her escape!

"Not good!" The shuriken had trapped Mizuki on every side. In an instant, the kunai was right in front of her!

The kunai in front and two shuriken behind struck their target at the same time. But Riyue wasn't the least bit excited. The spot where Mizuki had been standing was occupied by a piece of wood that had been hit by a practice shuriken.

"Substitution Technique?" After throwing his last kunai, Riyue had already started moving, as if he'd expected Mizuki to use the Substitution Technique.

Mizuki hid behind a tree and let out a breath. "Had he planned all of this from the moment he threw the first kunai? He used it as bait and led me step by step into his trap. My little cousin..."

A voice sounded right beside her!

"Big Sister, you really are a Chunin. You still managed to use the Substitution Technique in that situation!"

Mizuki looked up. Two Riyues were charging toward her with kunai in hand, only a few steps away.

"Fast! Clone Technique? Which one is the real one?" Mizuki used her kunai to block the Riyue on the right and reached for the hand holding the kunai of the one on the left. At the same time, she raised her right leg, ready to sweep them both off their feet. As soon as she made contact with the one on the right, she felt no resistance from her kick. With a puff, Riyue vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"Then the one on the left must be real!" Mizuki smiled faintly. As she kicked with her right leg, her left hand grabbed the left Riyue's arm. With another puff, that Riyue also vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"Not good! They're both clones, so the real one..." Mizuki instinctively activated her Byakugan to check behind her. The moment it activated, she was startled—but the leg she'd just kicked out was already impossible to pull back.

"Big Sister, you let your guard down!" A wooden kunai rested lightly against Mizuki's neck. The match was over!

Riyue was crouched upside down on a tree trunk, right above Mizuki. Reaching down, he held the kunai against her neck. Mizuki stared at her little cousin in a daze. Through her Byakugan, she could see the chakra flowing through his body. She almost felt as though she didn't recognize him anymore.

"Hehe, Big Sister, you not only activated your Byakugan, but you lost, too." Riyue laughed, put away his kunai, and flipped down beside Mizuki. She still looked stunned, her eyes fixed on him.

"Uh... Big Sister?" Riyue felt awkward. He wasn't a giant panda; there was no need to stare at him like that.

Mizuki came to her senses, realizing she'd been staring, and asked, "Riyue, when did you learn to refine chakra?"

"About four months ago." Riyue scratched his head.

Mizuki thought for a moment, then asked, "Riyue, when you asked me to activate my Byakugan earlier, were you trying to provoke me into sparring without it?"

"Hehe, if you activated your Byakugan, you'd know how much chakra I had and wouldn't have been so careless. You'd also have seen through my Clone Technique easily." Riyue nodded.

"You'd already planned out the shuriken attack from the start. You used the Clone Technique to confuse me from the front and draw my attention. Meanwhile, you stuck to the tree and snuck up on me from above, then caught me by surprise."

"Mm-hmm. You didn't know I could climb trees, so you didn't watch out for an attack from above. You also didn't know how much chakra I had or how many clones I could make, so you had to guess that one of the two clones was the real me. The clones drew your attention from the front, giving me a chance to attack from the tree. But all of this depended on you not activating your Byakugan." Riyue smiled.

Mizuki had lost for several reasons. First, she'd underestimated him. Second, she hadn't known what he was capable of. Third, she hadn't used her full strength. And fourth, she'd fallen for Riyue's trick, lost the initiative, and been quickly suppressed. So, if you used your moves well, it really was possible to defeat a stronger opponent.

"Riyue, it looks like you've gotten pretty good at refining chakra, the Three Basic Techniques, throwing weapons, and even chakra control. You've also reached the chakra level of a Genin. Did you work hard to achieve all this?"

"Mm-hmm! Big Sister, this is the surprise I wanted to give you." Riyue answered earnestly.

Mizuki gently hugged the four-year-old Riyue. "Little Riyue, you've become a ninja at just four years old. The Hyuga Branch Family has a genius! I'm so happy. Thank you for this wonderful surprise." Mizuki smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.

"Hehe, I'm glad you're happy, Big Sister. Riyue will keep training hard and become a ninja who can stand on his own. I'll protect you from now on." Riyue meant every word. Mizuki was family, someone he cared about from the very beginning.

Mizuki's praise filled Riyue with confidence!