Konoha Year 59, a crisp autumn day.
On the outskirts of the Death Forest.
A gray-haired boy stood before a wooden training post in an open clearing.
The boy had delicate features and wore a brown short-sleeved shirt and shorts. A white bandage was tied around his forehead, and his white pupils were particularly eye-catching.
Staring ahead with complete focus, he assumed the opening stance of the Eight Trigrams Palm.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."
As soon as he spoke—
The gray-haired boy suddenly sprang into motion, moving so fast that afterimages trailed behind him.
"Two Palms!"
"Four Palms!"
"..."
"Sixty-Four Palms!"
The gray-haired boy's footwork was light and graceful, and his palms flowed as smoothly as clouds and water. It was simply a feast for the eyes.
Thud, thud, thud...
For a moment, palm shadows fluttered like butterflies dancing among flowers. Every strike from the gray-haired boy landed solidly on the wooden post, producing sounds like pearls falling onto a jade plate, their wondrous rhythm utterly captivating.
As his final words fell—
The gray-haired boy was slightly out of breath, but a delighted smile appeared on his face.
Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms—flawless!
The boy was named Hyuga Hayato, a member of the Hyuga Branch Family. Hayato was only twelve this year, yet he had already mastered a secret technique that only the Hyuga Main Branch could learn. Who would believe it if he told them?
However, Hayato was not getting carried away.
Originally, he had merely been an ordinary civil servant in China on Blue Star. Without connections or money, with no bright future ahead, he had lived like a salted fish. He had thought that life would continue until the day he retired.
Forrest Gump once said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never