Ten-Pulse Divine Sword

Lying in bed, Hyuga Gen felt a strange sense of loneliness. Was it that the night made one more sentimental?

Hyuga Gen couldn't pinpoint the source of this loneliness. Was it simply that he wasn't used to living alone?

He had moved in today. This was his first night here by himself. This place used to be his home, but after his parents passed away, it ceased to be one. Since then, he had been living at Hyuga Kamen's house.

When he arrived yesterday, he couldn't believe his eyes. The place was covered in cobwebs and dust. The four of them had spent an entire day cleaning it until it was finally livable.

Aside from Hyuga Natsu and Yu Zhihui, Uchiha Izumi had also come to help. Upon hearing that Hyuga Gen was planning to move and needed to clear out the house, she had volunteered to assist.

Hyuga Gen's feelings toward Uchiha Izumi were complicated. He still remembered the day she had offered him her seat and invited him to sit beside her. It was a small gesture, but it had touched him deeply.

Through their interactions over the years, they had become close friends, but Hyuga Gen knew that taking things further was nearly impossible because someone else already occupied her heart.

She was the type of girl who would never make room for a second person. If he had to blame anyone, it was himself for not saving her during the Nine-Tails Incident; it was Uchiha Itachi who had saved her instead.

Once she set her heart on someone, she was unwavering and relentless. No matter what he became, she would continue to love him. This reminded Hyuga Gen of Sakura from Shippuden.

He remembered that in that world, many people cursed Sakura for being manipulative, but Hyuga Gen actually admired her. She loved and hated with intensity and remained consistent. Even when Sasuke wanted to kill her, she still threw herself at him like a moth to a flame.

Staying true to oneself, never wavering—what did it matter if those around you became more exceptional? It still wouldn't change the fact that she loved him.

Hyuga Gen felt that if he were Sakura, he might not be able to do it—to love someone who wanted to kill him and to fly toward that "fire" like a moth.

Thinking of this, Hyuga Gen thought of Hyuga Natsu. Perhaps her feelings for him were much the same.

Because you have moved into my heart, my heart can no longer hold anyone else.

Suddenly, Hyuga Gen felt like a bit of a scumbag for liking Uchiha Izumi while already having Xia. Let me be a scumbag then. Children make choices; adults want it all.

The mere thought of Hyuga Natsu or Uchiha Izumi one day being with someone else made Hyuga Gen feel incredibly uncomfortable. He couldn't accept that under any circumstances, so he would just have to work harder.

Of course, sometimes effort didn't yield much, and Hyuga Gen didn't dwell on it too much, but his first priority was ensuring Uchiha Izumi survived.

According to the timeline of Shippuden, if nothing went wrong, there were only three years left until the night Uchiha Itachi slaughtered his clan.

Uchiha Itachi and Obito had worked together to wipe out the Uchiha clan, though Hyuga Gen didn't know why Itachi would seek out Obito, considering Obito was the murderer of his comrades.

Of course, that might not be important. What mattered was that Uchiha Itachi killed the entire clan but spared his younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke. This showed that Uchiha Izumi wasn't that important in Itachi's heart—at least, not compared to his brother.

That seemed both right and wrong. After all, Uchiha Itachi had even killed his own parents. It was possible that Izumi held the same level of importance to him as his parents did, but Sasuke was the exception that ranked above them all.

Thinking that only three years remained, his strength was fine compared to an average person, but it was nowhere near enough to face Uchiha Itachi, who possessed the Mangekyou Sharingan.

The Mangekyou Sharingan was a super-bugged setting. Once awakened, it granted a qualitative leap in power, providing Kage-level or even beyond-Kage-level strength.

Furthermore, there was Uchiha Obito. Saving Uchiha Izumi from their hands would be incredibly difficult. Of course, if they were determined to kill her, his current strength would make saving her a complete fantasy.

Naturally, there were still some countermeasures. Hyuga Gen had long thought that if he could just cause a big enough commotion—like starting a massive fire—and stall for time, it shouldn't be a problem.

He considered the ninjutsu he currently knew: the Hyuga's Gentle Fist went without saying, and the Clone Technique and Transformation Technique were standard skills for every ninja.

Then there was the Rasengan, the Eight Trigrams Palms Rotation, and his self-created Gentle Ninja Art: the Ten-Pulse Divine Sword.

He had spent most of his time over the past three years developing the Ten-Pulse Divine Sword. Gentle Fist worked by releasing chakra into an opponent's acupuncture points to inflict damage from within.

Since chakra was also released from the acupuncture points in the hands, Hyuga Gen had quickly associated it with the Six-Pulse Divine Sword from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. Being very familiar with human acupuncture points, he immediately began to explore the concept.

He accelerated the flow of chakra through his meridians, condensed it, and then fired it through the points at his fingertips. After constant experimentation, he had created the Gentle Ninja Art: Ten-Pulse Divine Sword.

Almost all techniques of the Hyuga clan involved releasing chakra from acupuncture points, whether it was defensive ninjutsu like Rotation or offensive ones like the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.

That was why Hyuga Gen had instantly thought of the Six-Pulse Divine Sword. It was the same principle of attacking from acupuncture points; he just had to replace internal energy with chakra.

As Hyuga Gen had expected, through practice and exploration, he had mastered the Six-Pulse Divine Sword, which eventually evolved into the current Ten-Pulse Divine Sword.

Of course, while it sounded simple, it was not easy to execute. If not for the unique advantages of the Hyuga clan, it would have been uncertain whether the Ten-Pulse Divine Sword could even be successfully performed.

Upon activating the Byakugan, the flow rate of physical energy and chakra increased significantly, making it easier to open all the acupuncture points in the body and release chakra. Coupled with the Hyuga clan's focus on controlling and mastering chakra, learning it was twice as effective with half the effort.

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 quite satisfied with the technique; the only thing he wasn't entirely happy with was its attack range.

The further the attack traveled, the weaker its intensity became. Hyuga Gen had tested it, and the maximum range was three zhang (about 10 meters); beyond that, it vanished.

Within one zhang, it should be lethal or cause severe injury. Within two zhang, it could injure an enemy or strike their acupuncture points. Beyond two zhang, it had no real offensive power to speak of, so the effective range was only two zhang, or a little over six meters.

This distance wasn't too far or too close, and it basically met Hyuga Gen's expectations. Of course, to an ordinary person, this ninjutsu was excellent, but Hyuga Gen knew it wouldn't be enough against a Susanoo or a Tailed Beast; it probably wouldn't even be enough to scratch them.

Currently, these were the three techniques Hyuga Gen could rely on. Though few, they were practical and all A-rank. In Hyuga Gen's opinion, the Gentle Ninja Art: Ten-Pulse Divine Sword was likely no lower than A-rank either.

Moving forward, Hyuga Gen planned to learn other ninjutsu in addition to his daily training.

As he thought about this, a wave of drowsiness washed over him, and before he knew it, Hyuga Gen had slowly drifted off into a dream.