It turned out I was the only one with free time. I'd planned to invite everyone out to play, maybe go camping together or something, but Itachi had to stay home and look after Sasuke, while Izumi had to help her mother with the housework.
With my plans spoiled, Hyuga Gen had no choice but to play with the wooden man by himself. More accurately, he was practicing against a wooden training dummy.
He'd had someone make the dummy for him, mainly to train his Taijutsu. It was simple, but quite practical.
When the wooden man had first been made, his grandfather, Hyuga Kamen, had been amazed. Of course, it was hard to say whether Kamen was impressed by what the dummy could do or by Hyuga Gen's unusual enthusiasm for studying.
Hyuga Gen didn't pay it much mind and started practicing against the wooden man, honing his Taijutsu and his body so he could use the Gentle Fist more effectively.
He'd learned a little Gentle Fist before, though it had only been a few moves. At its core, the Gentle Fist used chakra to attack an opponent's pressure points and injure them from within.
In Hyuga Gen's view, the Gentle Fist was a vastly underrated fighting style. The Hyuga Clan had performed terribly in Naruto: Shippuden, seeming unable to beat anyone and constantly getting beaten up.
By contrast, the Steel Fist had been very impressive. The fight where Guy kicked Madara had been especially spectacular, elevating him to the realm of the gods. The Eight Inner Gates let him kick a god.
But don't forget that Guy had achieved that by burning through his life. And when he explained the Gentle Fist during the Chunin Ninja Exams, he'd seemed a little envious of it. Generally speaking, it was difficult for the Steel Fist to defeat the Gentle Fist.
Although Rock Lee never fought Neji in Shippuden, Hyuga Gen didn't think Rock Lee could beat him.
The Steel Fist relied on meeting force with force and striking at close range, which made it easy to get caught by the Gentle Fist. Once that happened, the Gentle Fist could injure you from within.
Calling the Gentle Fist invincible at close range might be an exaggeration, but not by much.
When Neji fought Hinata, he'd struck her only a few times before she was coughing up blood. Her injuries still hadn't healed by the time Neji fought Naruto. That showed how formidable the Gentle Fist really was.
If Neji had been as ruthless against Naruto as he'd been against Hinata, the outcome might have been very different. Instead of blocking pressure points, he could have struck a vital spot—say, shattered Naruto's heart with one blow. Then the Nine-Tails would have emerged, Konoha would have fallen, and the story would have ended.
So the Gentle Fist really wasn't weak, but its weakness was obvious: it wasn't good at long-range attacks. Hyuga Gen remembered that Neji's worst defeat had come from being outmatched at range and from the Byakugan's blind spot.
Of course, a lot still came down to the difference in strength. The Hyuga Clan had long-range techniques too: the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. Hyuga Hiashi had used it early on. Hyuga Gen didn't think its offensive power was all that great, but it could still deal with ordinary ninja.
The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist techniques placed great importance on chakra control. Rotation, for example, required releasing chakra from the pressure points all over the body and spinning to create a chakra barrier.
Getting chakra to flow from every pressure point in your body wasn't something an ordinary person could do easily. Releasing chakra from all of them and using it to create Rotation was even more difficult.
Releasing chakra from your body's pressure points to cover your whole body wasn't too hard. But releasing it beyond your body with enough force to create Rotation was extremely difficult.
Hyuga Gen had also noticed that when he activated his Byakugan, the chakra inside him flowed much faster, and the pressure points throughout his body opened more easily. He felt completely unblocked. Perhaps that was why only the Hyuga Clan could use Rotation.
It was like the Uchiha Clan: without the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai, they couldn't use techniques like Susanoo. Likewise, without the Byakugan, it was almost impossible to use Rotation.
So the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist was definitely worth learning, and Rotation looked pretty cool too. He'd have to try it later. Hyuga Gen had a few other ideas as well, such as improving the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist techniques.
But he could explore those ideas gradually later. For now, he needed to build a solid foundation and refine more chakra. He absolutely had to increase his chakra reserves—there was no way around it.
"Brother Gen, this looks pretty fun. Can I try?"
Hyuga Natsu had been watching from the side, eager to give it a go.
"Sure, give it a try. Just be careful not to get hit by the wooden man, okay? It'll hurt."
"Hmph, how hard can it be? Watch this," Hyuga Natsu said, unconcerned.
But reality was merciless. The wooden man quickly taught Hyuga Natsu a lesson, and after that, she was determined to beat it.
In the end, Hyuga Gen couldn't stand watching anymore, so he explained what Hyuga Natsu needed to keep in mind and how to handle it. Afterward, she began moving with surprising skill.
The wooden man was made of high-quality timber and was very sturdy. Even Hyuga Gen couldn't beat it yet. The harder you hit it, the faster it spun. If you couldn't react in time, it was your turn to get pummeled.
And so, without anyone noticing, time slipped by. The sun sank in the west as the girl worked up a sweat in front of the wooden man. It was a lovely sight, wasn't it?
Not long afterward, there was a wooden training dummy like this at Hyuga Natsu's house too. Under her relentless "campaign," Hyuga Gen surrendered after just a few minutes.
Meanwhile, Itachi wasn't having a good time. The argument had gotten so loud that it scared Sasuke into crying, and Itachi was doing his best to soothe him.
"Clan leader, Lord Hokage and the others are going too far! They're making us move our clan compound again. They might as well move us right out of the village! Do they have any respect for the Uchiha Clan at all?"
"Exactly! Would the village even exist without the Uchiha Clan? Now they want to throw us aside once we've outlived our usefulness. Clan leader, we can't just sit back and do nothing anymore."
"That's right. If this keeps up, there won't be any place for us in Konoha. They see us as a thorn in their side. The only reason they haven't gotten rid of us is that they're wary of our strength and don't dare make a move."
"Exactly. Once they get the chance, the Uchiha Clan will be on the brink of extinction. The Fourth Hokage is dead, and the Third Hokage is old and frail. This is our best chance."
"Yes, clan leader. Just give the word, and we'll win you the Hokage's seat!"
One after another, they rushed to recount the unfair treatment they'd endured. Their anger soon made them all look like "red-eyed monsters," and the sight was a little unsettling.
"That's enough. Stop talking."
Seeing that the situation was about to get out of hand, Uchiha Fugaku hurriedly shouted them down.
It was that shout from Fugaku that made little Sasuke start crying in the next room.
Everyone fell silent at once. The cries coming from the next room sounded especially jarring in the sudden quiet.
Itachi was already soothing Sasuke with soft coos. Worried they might disturb the meeting, he carried Sasuke out of the room.
"It's nothing. Sasuke and Itachi are playing in the next room," Uchiha Fugaku said casually, seeing their startled expressions.
The interruption gradually calmed everyone down, and they were no longer as agitated as before.
"Have we found any clues about the person who controlled the Nine-Tails to attack the village?" Uchiha Fugaku asked gravely. It was a crucial question.
In the end, the Uchiha's current predicament was entirely the result of the Nine-Tails Incident, compounded by Danzo's deliberate schemes and suppression. The village no longer trusted the Uchiha at all.
"We haven't found any other clues. He seemed to appear out of nowhere. We've investigated every clan member in the village one by one, but found nothing."
"Could some of our clan members still be living outside the village? That's impossible. According to the family records, all our clan members should be here," Uchiha Fugaku murmured.
"Only the Mangekyō Sharingan can control the Nine-Tails at will with its ocular power. And in history, only a handful of people ever awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. They all died long ago. We've searched the entire clan. It's impossible that someone awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan without our knowing."
"But the village gave us only a year. More than half that time has already passed. If we still can't find the culprit, we'll have no choice but to move away."
"Clan leader, let's rebel."
"Hmph. Rebel? Do you think the village is so easy to take on? Do you think Lord Hokage and the other clans are just there for show?"
"Besides, even though we didn't cause this incident, it's already been confirmed that the person who controlled the Nine-Tails has ties to the Uchiha. It's only natural that the village is on guard against us."
"So everyone should focus on finding the culprit. If we still can't find them by the deadline, then we'll have no choice but to move."
"Clan leader, we—"
"That's enough. Not another word. That's all for today. Everyone, go home." With that, Uchiha Fugaku left.
With the clan leader gone, some people were still reluctant to leave, but they all eventually departed with grumbles.
Not long after they left, word of their meeting reached the Hokage Building. What happened inside afterward remained unknown.
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