Orochimaru: Can You Give Me Some Blood?

"You have stepped into my Eight Trigrams Domain."

Just as Nawaki thought victory was within his grasp, he suddenly saw Wuye's eyes turn white.

"This is..."

Nawaki's eyes widened. "The opening stance of the Hyuga Clan's main family's secret technique? Could that be the Byakugan?!"

The next moment, he leaped backward... Once inside the Hyuga Clan's Eight Trigrams range, he had to escape quickly, or he would be left paralyzed!

All the Water Clones retreated with him, intending to confuse Wuye's vision.

But the Byakugan could see chakra clearly. Water Clones possessed only one-tenth of the original's chakra, so they caused no interference at all.

Smack!

Wuye flashed in front of Nawaki, accurately avoiding his guard and striking an acupoint on his right arm, leaving that arm limp and powerless.

Smack! Smack! Smack... Smack! Smack! Smack...

What followed was the ever-popular barrage of strikes, like pounding a stake.

Without being injured and suddenly powering up, Wuye landed sixteen palms.

"Ugh... I can't... move..."

Sweat beaded on Nawaki's forehead as his body froze in place.

A kunai appeared in Wuye's right hand and pointed at his throat.

But just then, Nawaki's right hand suddenly rose, thrusting a kunai at him even faster.

"Looks like I still won..."

Before the smile at the corner of his mouth could bloom, Hyuga Wuye in front of him suddenly turned into a broken log with a bang.

Body Replacement Technique!

Wuye appeared behind him, his kunai pressed against Nawaki's back.

"I won again, Nawaki," Wuye said with a low laugh.

And this time, I won with my own strength... he silently added.

Nawaki dejectedly loosened his grip on the kunai and asked in confusion, "Why did you seem prepared for my right hand? Logically, after being struck by the Eight Trigrams Palm technique, I shouldn't have been able to raise my hand again."

Wuye withdrew his kunai and smiled. "Because I've seen how quickly your sister can force open her acupoints. Even if you couldn't force open all sixteen, you would definitely be able to open the first one on your right arm, so I kept guarding against your right hand."

"I see. I wanted to take advantage of your mistake, but I ended up being used by you instead," Nawaki said helplessly.

After thinking for a moment, Wuye suddenly said, "Nawaki, I think you have exceptional talent for ninjutsu. In the future, you could become a ninja who specializes in long-range ninjutsu. You don't have to keep charging into the front lines."

Nawaki nodded. "Yeah, Orochimaru-sensei said the same thing. But my ancestors took pride in charging into battle, brave and fearless. Even though the Senju Clan name is gone, I don't want to disgrace them. So whenever I need to kill an enemy with my own hands, I will never retreat!"

What could Wuye say...? Maybe everyone had their own fate, and perhaps Nawaki would not be able to avoid the explosive tag he would step on in the future.

It was simply in his nature. There was no escaping it.

Just like how Hyuga Wuye naturally liked that ambiguous feeling. He could not lie to himself and pretend he did not.

"Wuye-kun, you're here too."

At that moment, a gloomy voice suddenly sounded beside him.

Wuye practically sprang away from where he stood. When he turned around, it was indeed Orochimaru, looking at him with that dissecting gaze.

"Sensei, did you come looking for me?" Nawaki waved.

Orochimaru nodded, but his gaze never left Hyuga Wuye, especially his eyes.

Nawaki had once again been spectacularly ignored.

"It seems Wuye-kun has awakened the Byakugan. How impressive," he said hoarsely. "To possess both of these great ocular powers at the age of seven... However, according to my current research, the Byakugan is a bloodline limit that requires the purest bloodline. Theoretically, you should not have been able to awaken it so easily, so..."

Orochimaru seemed to unconsciously extend his tongue and lick his lips. "I wonder if Wuye-kun could let me take a little blood?"

Hyuga Wuye: "..."

A thousand mythical beasts thundered through his mind...

Holy crap, what did it feel like to be targeted by Orochimaru and taken away for research? Like being a lab rat!

He absolutely did not dare let Orochimaru take his blood. Even now, he had not figured out why his body kept sending strange feedback to his brain, or why breaking up with designated targets could awaken ocular power.

This was his greatest secret and his greatest reliance. If something was really discovered through research, he was afraid he would be done for...

"Lord Orochimaru, about taking blood... um... sorry..."

Before Hyuga Wuye could finish refusing, Orochimaru suddenly stepped closer and said in a low voice, "It's only a little blood. Wuye-kun wouldn't be so stingy, would he?"

Wuye's head was about to explode.

"Orochimaru."

At that moment, Tsunade's voice suddenly rang out like that of a savior. Wuye had never realized her voice could sound so pleasant.

"He is my disciple. He cannot become your experimental material."

Tsunade appeared at the edge of the training ground. She did not even look at Wuye, merely staring at Orochimaru.

"He became your disciple?" Orochimaru asked in surprise.

Nawaki looked at his sister in even greater astonishment... A trace of sourness suddenly rose in his heart, but he quickly suppressed it, because he felt that such jealousy was wrong.

Tsunade nodded. "I accepted him as my disciple at Kaguya's request, so naturally I have to take responsibility for him... Orochimaru, don't blame me for being overly cautious. It's just that whenever you conduct research, you become too crazed, refusing to rest until you get to the bottom of things... His status is special, and many people are watching him openly and secretly. Doing something like this now will do you no good."

Orochimaru fell silent for a long while before nodding. "You have a point..."

He glanced at Wuye. "Then let's cooperate another time when the opportunity arises, Wuye-kun... Nawaki, let's go."

"Yes."

Nawaki hurriedly followed behind him as he left.

"Whew..."

Hyuga Wuye let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you, Sensei... Huh?"

He looked up, but Tsunade was already gone.

She ran off way too fast, didn't she?

Wuye suddenly realized: That meant she remembered what happened last night?

In an instant, his expression became a riot of colors.

Though this was very beneficial for breaking his deadlock, the result was still genuinely awkward...

"Wuye, you really are here?!"

Kushina's delighted voice suddenly rang out.

When Hyuga Wuye turned around, he saw a fiery red figure rushing toward him.

What else could he do?

Of course, he opened his arms and caught her...

Her soft, delicate body fell into his embrace, carrying a fine, sweet fragrance.

"I heard from the attendants that you were fighting Nawaki? Why isn't he here?"

Kushina braced both hands against his chest and looked around from side to side. It was rather adorable.

Wuye released her and spread his hands. "Lord Orochimaru took him away."

"I see..." Kushina tilted her head up and asked curiously, "Did you win?"

"Of course."

Wuye casually lifted a lock of her red hair and wrapped it around his fingertip, playing with it.

"Hehe, I knew you were the best!"

Kushina put her hands on her hips, beaming. "When we sparred, he always bullied me for not learning ninjutsu as well as he did, but he still couldn't beat you!"

"Then why didn't you use Adamantine Sealing Chains?" Wuye asked.

Kushina pursed her little lips. "All he does is Water Clone, Water Clone, Water Clone. I can't bind the original, and Adamantine Sealing Chains requires a lot of hand seals. He keeps interrupting me while I'm forming them."

Wuye thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "Kushina, actually, you don't need to form hand seals for Adamantine Sealing Chains, right?"

He remembered that later, neither Kushina nor Xiangling formed hand seals when using Adamantine Sealing Chains.

So could he use his analysis ability to simplify it in advance?