Ten-Pulse Divine Sword

Lying in bed, Hyuga Gen felt inexplicably lonely. Did nighttime make people more prone to melancholy?

Hyuga Gen didn't know where the loneliness came from. Was it because he lived alone and wasn't used to it?

He'd moved in today. It was his first night living here by himself. This had once been his home, but when his parents died, he'd lost his home too. After that, he'd lived with Hyuga Kamen.

When he'd first arrived yesterday, he could hardly believe his eyes. Cobwebs and dust were everywhere. The four of them had spent the whole day cleaning before they finally got the house in order.

Besides Natsu and Yu Zhihui, Uchiha Izumi had come to help too. When she heard Hyuga Gen was moving and needed to clean the house, Uchiha Izumi had volunteered to lend a hand.

Hyuga Gen had complicated feelings about Uchiha Izumi. He still remembered the day she'd given up her seat and invited him to sit beside her. It had been a small gesture, but it had touched him deeply.

After years of knowing each other, the two had become close friends. But Hyuga Gen knew that taking things further was nearly impossible, because there was already someone in her heart.

She'd never make room for anyone else. That was the kind of girl she was. He could only blame himself for not saving her during the Nine-Tails Incident. It had been Uchiha Itachi who saved her instead.

Once she set her heart on someone, she was steadfast and unwavering. No matter what he became, she would still love him. That reminded Hyuga Gen of Sakura in Shippuden.

He remembered how so many people in that other world had called Sakura a scheming bitch, but Hyuga Gen had always admired her. She loved fiercely and hated fiercely, and she never wavered. Even when Sasuke tried to kill her, she still threw herself at him like a moth to a flame.

She stayed true to herself, unwavering. So what if everyone around her became more impressive? It wouldn't change the fact that she loved him.

Hyuga Gen thought that if he were Sakura, he might not be able to do it. He couldn't imagine loving someone who wanted to kill him and then throwing himself at that "flame" like a moth.

Thinking of that made Hyuga Gen think of Hyuga Natsu. Perhaps her feelings for him were much the same.

"Because you came to live in my heart, there's no room in it for anyone else."

Suddenly, Hyuga Gen felt like a bit of a scumbag. He had Natsu, yet he still liked Uchiha Izumi. So be it. Only children had to choose; adults took them all.

The thought of Hyuga Natsu or Uchiha Izumi one day ending up beneath someone else made Hyuga Gen deeply uncomfortable. He simply couldn't accept it, so he'd just have to try harder.

Of course, effort didn't always accomplish much. Hyuga Gen didn't dwell on it, though. His first priority was making sure Uchiha Izumi survived.

Going by the events of Shippuden, barring any surprises, there were only three years left until the night Uchiha Itachi massacred his clan.

Uchiha Itachi and Obito had joined forces to wipe out the Uchiha Clan. Hyuga Gen didn't know why Itachi had sought Obito's help, since Obito was the one who'd killed his comrades.

But that might not matter. What mattered was that Uchiha Itachi had killed his entire clan but spared his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha. That showed Uchiha Izumi wasn't all that important to Itachi—not compared to his brother, at least.

That seemed both true and untrue. After all, Uchiha Itachi had even killed his own parents. Maybe Izumi mattered to him as much as his parents did, with Sasuke as the one exception who ranked above them all.

With only three years left, Hyuga Gen's strength was decent compared to ordinary people, but it was still no match for Uchiha Itachi with his Mangekyō Sharingan.

The Mangekyō Sharingan was an incredibly overpowered ability. Awakening it could cause a qualitative leap in strength, granting its wielder Kage Level—or even greater—power.

And there was Uchiha Obito too. Rescuing Uchiha Izumi from them would be difficult. If they were determined to kill her, then with his current strength, it would be utterly impossible.

Still, he had a few ways to deal with the situation. Hyuga Gen had thought about it long ago. He just needed to make a big enough commotion that night, start a fire or something, and buy some time. That should be enough.

Thinking over the ninjutsu he knew, there was the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, of course. The Clone Technique and Transformation Technique were no challenge either; they were essential skills for every ninja.

Then there were the Rasengan, Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin, and his own Gentle Ninja Art—Ten-Pulse Divine Sword.

Over the past three years, he'd spent most of his time developing his own Gentle Ninja Art—Ten-Pulse Divine Sword. Gentle Fist attacked the body's pressure points by releasing chakra, injuring enemies from within.

Chakra was released through pressure points in the hands too. Hyuga Gen had quickly thought of the Six-Pulse Divine Sword from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. Since he was familiar with the body's pressure points, he'd immediately started experimenting.

He made the chakra flow faster through his meridians and gather, then shot it out through the pressure points at his fingertips. After countless attempts, he'd created the Gentle Ninja Art—Ten-Pulse Divine Sword.

Nearly all the Hyuga Clan's techniques involved releasing chakra from pressure points, whether it was a defensive technique like Rotation or an offensive technique like Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.

That was why Hyuga Gen had immediately thought of the Six-Pulse Divine Sword. It was also an attack released through pressure points. He just had to replace internal energy with chakra. Simple, right?

Just as Hyuga Gen had expected, practice and experimentation had led him to develop the Six-Pulse Divine Sword, and eventually the Ten-Pulse Divine Sword he used now.

Of course, it sounded simple, but putting it into practice wasn't easy. Without the Hyuga Clan's unique advantages, whether he could have successfully used the Ten-Pulse Divine Sword at all would have been uncertain.

After activating the Byakugan, chakra flowed much faster through his body. It was easier to open the pressure points throughout his body and release chakra through them. On top of that, the Hyuga Clan already focused on improving their control and mastery of chakra, so learning the technique was twice as easy for him.

Even so, it had taken Hyuga Gen nearly three years to learn and master the Gentle Ninja Art—Ten-Pulse Divine Sword.

Hyuga Gen was fairly satisfied with his Gentle Ninja Art—Ten-Pulse Divine Sword. The only thing he wasn't happy with was its range.

The farther the attack traveled, the weaker it became. Hyuga Gen had tested it: its maximum range was three zhang, and beyond that, it vanished.

Within one zhang, it could kill or seriously wound an enemy. Within two zhang, it could injure an enemy and strike their pressure points. Beyond two zhang, it had little to no offensive power. So its effective range was only two zhang, a little over six meters.

That wasn't especially far or especially close, and it was more or less within Hyuga Gen's expectations. Ordinary people would think this ninjutsu was excellent, but Hyuga Gen knew it was still nothing compared to Susanoo or a Tailed Beast. He doubted it could even tickle them.

At present, these three were the only ninjutsu Hyuga Gen could rely on. There weren't many, but they were practical, and all were A-rank techniques. In Hyuga Gen's view, the Gentle Ninja Art—Ten-Pulse Divine Sword should be at least A-rank too.

Next, besides his usual training, Hyuga Gen planned to learn some other ninjutsu as well.

As these thoughts drifted through his mind, sleepiness washed over him. Before long, Hyuga Gen had slowly fallen asleep.