Gentle Fist

The next day, Riyue got up early and began training with Mizuki again. Mizuki started teaching him how to use the Gentle Fist.

Unlike the Steel Fist, which struck an enemy's muscles and bones with powerful blows, the Gentle Fist targeted the enemy's meridians, pressure points, and internal organs. It relied on the Byakugan to pinpoint the target, then used tiny chakra needles formed at the fingertips to strike the enemy's pressure points, damage their meridian network, and block the flow of chakra. Alternatively, the user could attack with chakra-infused palm strikes, shaking the enemy's internal organs and causing internal injuries.

Using the Byakugan to see inside the body, Riyue carefully compared human anatomy. Ordinary people in the world of Naruto had the same physical structure as people in his previous life, so their neural networks were identical. The human body had 720 nerve points, and the distribution of its blood vessels and meridians was also the same. Only the names of the pressure points differed.

The difference was that people capable of becoming ninjas had an additional meridian system that allowed chakra to flow through their bodies. It contained 361 chakra points, most of which overlapped with the 720 pressure points. Some did not, of course. The Eight Gates in the Eight Inner Gates were one such exception.

Riyue guessed that when the Sage of Six Paths created the Ninjutsu Sect, he had used Yin-Yang Release to create new pathways for chakra to flow through people's bodies, allowing him to share chakra with them. This had caused subtle differences in the human body. Even so, this chakra meridian system still mostly overlapped with the meridian system described in traditional Chinese medicine. Riyue believed that, with his extraordinary understanding of meridians, he could improve the Gentle Fist and even create powerful new techniques.

The Gentle Fist emphasized speed, accuracy, skill, ruthlessness, and softness. It aimed for deft, swift, precise strikes that could often kill an enemy with a seemingly gentle blow.

Attacking pressure points with chakra needles formed between the index and middle fingers could have different effects depending on the technique. For example, blocking a pressure point could prevent chakra from passing through it. Stimulating one could suddenly increase the chakra flowing through it. If an enemy continued using chakra without realizing what had happened, the result could be devastating: they might lose control of a jutsu and kill themselves, or their chakra might burst through their meridians. Destroying a pressure point could cripple the meridian running through it. Depending on the point struck, an attack could also cause internal injuries, numbness, unconsciousness, excruciating pain, or even death. A palm strike that concentrated chakra in the hand and drove it into an internal organ could make the organ shudder from the impact. The organ might be displaced, damaged, or even shattered, and the enemy could die from severe internal injuries.

"Riyue, let's start practicing the Gentle Fist!" Mizuki said.

With Mizuki's guidance, Riyue quickly learned how to locate pressure points, strike with his fingers, and use the palm techniques. He decided to master the basics of the Gentle Fist before incorporating his own ideas. The Main Family won't pass down its secret techniques? Then I'll invent my own, and one day the Main Family will be begging the Branch Family to teach them!

Riyue began training hard. Along with his nonstop physical conditioning, shuriken practice, Three Basic Techniques, Hand Seal practice, and chakra control, he also trained his Byakugan and practiced the Gentle Fist every day. He planned to activate his Byakugan four times a day: morning, noon, afternoon, and evening. Each time, he would make the most of the six minutes it lasted, training his perception, vision, and range while sparring with Mizuki.

Riyue had a life-sized wooden dummy made, then carefully carved its pressure points and meridians into it. It showed all 361 chakra points and 720 nerve points, and he had also built a wide array of internal organs inside the wooden body. Every day, he practiced striking the dummy and hitting its pressure points. He tried to perform the strikes with his fingers alone, without using chakra needles.

Riyue was determined to train until he could accurately strike an opponent's pressure points without the Byakugan. Even if someone had a congenital deformity that left their chakra points in unusual places, he could activate the Byakugan for just a few seconds and land his strikes accurately. Look at Haku of Kirigakure—she could hit Zabuza's pressure points with Senbon from a great distance, and with astonishing accuracy. Riyue had the Byakugan, a tool that could see through the body. Surely he could do at least as well as Haku?

A week passed, and Riyue made rapid progress. Then Mizuki got a new assignment. The war was said to be growing more intense, and Mizuki had been sent to escort supplies. The supplies were bound for the front lines on the border of the Land of Fire.

At Konoha Gate, Mizuki had her gear ready. The convoy beside her was undergoing its final inspection.

"Take care, Mizuki. Supply convoys are prime targets for enemy ambushes, so be careful," Riyue said worriedly.

"Don't worry. Lady Tsunade is in charge of logistics and transportation. She'll send people to meet us," Mizuki replied with a smile.

"Mm." Riyue nodded. Tsunade might not yet be as powerful as she would become later, but she was certainly no weakling.

"We're leaving. I'll be back soon. See you." Mizuki waved.

As Mizuki turned around, Riyue noticed that the zipper on her backpack was open. Half a letter was sticking out, marked with a red symbol that looked like a ping-pong paddle—no, it was the Gunbai symbol. It seemed Mizuki had hurriedly stuffed the letter into her bag and forgotten to zip it up.

"Huh? That's the Uchiha Clan's crest, right? Did someone from the Uchiha Clan write that letter to Mizuki?" Riyue was curious.

"Mizuki, your backpack's unzipped!" Riyue called after her.

"Huh? Oh!" Mizuki quickly turned her backpack around. When she saw the letter sticking halfway out, her face turned bright red. She hurriedly stuffed it back inside, unable to meet Riyue's eyes.

"I'm leaving, Riyue. You should go back..." Mizuki said, turning her face aside as she waved awkwardly over her shoulder and continued walking briskly.

"Goodbye, Mizuki! Um... is that a love letter?" Riyue suddenly called out, waving as he said it.

Mizuki, who had already walked a few steps, suddenly froze at his words. Her face turned so red it seemed about to start smoking, and she looked as though she might faint. She didn't dare linger another moment and fled into the convoy.

"So it really was a love letter. Someone from the Uchiha Clan, huh? Mizuki got embarrassed... Hehe." Riyue tried to hold back his laughter, but after struggling for a while, he couldn't help laughing.

Watching Mizuki's departing figure, Riyue hoped he could grow stronger as soon as possible. Only then could he protect himself and the people dear to him.

Riyue kept training, working harder every day. The heavy chakra drain from using the Byakugan didn't dampen his spirits. Instead, it fired up his determination. In the world of Naruto, people with Kekkei Genkai were stronger than ordinary people because of their inherited abilities. Yet their reliance on those abilities often came at the cost of developing other skills.

Riyue didn't want to rely too heavily on the Byakugan. He could fight with it, but he could fight without it, too. The Byakugan was only a tool; the key was the person who mastered it. The strength lay not in the Byakugan itself, but in the user. Not being able to use it often could actually help Riyue develop his other abilities, making him less dependent on it. As one ability waned, others would grow stronger. For Riyue, that might not be a bad thing.

Riyue was making good progress with his reaction and sensory training. His senses were far sharper than those of an ordinary Genin. He was practicing pressure-point strikes even more diligently, while also training his ability to memorize the points. These skills could make up for the Byakugan's limited duration. Heaven had closed one door for Riyue, so he opened a window for himself. That window would give him an advantage when fighting opponents and let him use the Gentle Fist with skill even without the Byakugan. He could call it a blessing in disguise.

Once he had built a solid foundation and fully mastered the Gentle Fist, Riyue planned to incorporate some of his ideas into it.

For example, Riyue thought he could use finger strength to make up for the chakra needle's lack of penetrating power. His fingertips had a much larger contact area than a chakra needle. With enough strength in his fingers, he could greatly improve the accuracy and damage of his pressure-point strikes. He would be able to strike pressure points and block meridians using finger strength alone. This was one of the main reasons he practiced on the wooden dummy and worked on hitting its pressure points.

Riyue had brought with him an understanding of the body's nerve points from his previous life. The human body had 36 lethal pressure points. The temple, for example, contained the vagus nerve, which controlled the heartbeat. A heavy blow could stop the heart, and the same was true of people in the world of Naruto. Some pressure points had unusual effects when struck. They could cause excruciating pain and leave someone unable to fight, numb part of the body and deprive it of sensation, render the muscles uncontrollable and leave someone unable to move, constrict the blood vessels to stop bleeding, or induce unconsciousness and a deathlike state.

Riyue could stop bleeding by striking pressure points. If no anesthetic was available, he could use a chakra needle to numb someone. When capturing an enemy, he could strike their pressure points to immobilize them. If he had no torture devices but needed to interrogate an enemy, he could use chakra to stimulate their pain, laughter, and sourness points. The enemy would remain alive, but the experience would be unbearable. Pressure-point strikes could even induce a deathlike state to deceive others. These were all areas the Gentle Fist had not explored in depth. Riyue knew that people in the world of Naruto were researching such methods, but with the knowledge from his previous life, he was clearly on an entirely different level.

Riyue also began practicing Taijiquan from his previous life. He wasn't a martial arts master, and his understanding of Taijiquan was limited to being able to use it. He couldn't simply combine the Gentle Fist and Taijiquan into a new martial art. He only hoped to borrow some of Taijiquan's principles to improve the Gentle Fist and create new techniques. He believed the Gentle Fist was hard yet soft, while Taijiquan was soft yet hard. By drawing on Taijiquan's principles, the Gentle Fist could balance hardness and softness and reach a new level of power.

Footwork was also crucial to the Gentle Fist. At first, Riyue practiced horse stance relentlessly, holding it for hours at a time. His stability, leg and waist strength, and control improved noticeably. Next, he began practicing the footwork of Taijiquan and the Eight Trigrams Palms. Taijiquan footwork was light and steady, with silent steps, moving like a cat and a tiger, and rising and falling with ease. The Eight Trigrams Palms flowed like clouds and water, turning and shifting with effortless control. Riyue planned to incorporate both styles into the Gentle Fist's footwork, making his movements agile, varied, graceful, and steady. His body could keep changing direction while his center of gravity remained as stable as ever, until he could be as still as a maiden and as swift as a hare.

Of course, Riyue had many other ideas, and they would all take time to mature. He couldn't achieve everything overnight. First, he had to build a solid foundation and prepare himself. Then he could keep experimenting and making improvements. In the end, only quantitative change could bring about qualitative change!

Half a year passed just like that, and Riyue turned five.