Yuun vs. Hiashi

"Um..." Hinata Hyuga, already somewhat uneasy, seemed to think of something and blushed deeply. It looked like Hiashi had already spoken to her about it. Yuun, who had been watching Hinata Hyuga from the corner of his eye, sighed in relief. She did not seem unwilling. In fact, Yuun had already made up his mind that if Hinata Hyuga refused, he would help her turn it down.

Yuun was overthinking it. Given Hiashi's influence over Hinata Hyuga at this point, even if the chosen person had been someone she disliked, she would not have dared refuse. Besides, she had some favorable feelings toward Yuun. What girl had never dreamed of a prince on a white horse? Yuun was handsome, far stronger than others his age, and what had happened when they were children had also left Hinata Hyuga with a good impression of him.

Those conditions might not have been flawless, but they were already exceedingly rare. One look at Hinata Hyuga's flushed face made that clear. The Hyuga Clan had no custom of remaining silent while eating or sleeping, but the restrained Yuun and Hinata Hyuga barely spoke throughout the meal. As for Hiashi, given his status, personally proposing the marriage was already the limit of what he could do. Livening up the atmosphere was something he had never done in his life. And Hanabi Hyuga? What could a little girl of five or six possibly understand? She merely looked at her red-faced sister, then at the somewhat stiff Yuun, and nodded thoughtfully. Who knew what was going through her little head.

After finally finishing the meal, they looked at one another and unexpectedly felt as though a weight had been lifted. Although Hiashi was going to spar with Yuun, they could hardly start fighting immediately after eating. Once they were done, the two walked out one after the other and entered the courtyard.

The Hyuga Main House had several courtyards. Yuun and the others were now strolling slowly through the largest one.

"Taking a walk after a meal is a good habit," Hiashi suddenly said without any context. Anyone else would naturally have found it baffling, but Yuun understood what Hiashi meant. Yuun went for a walk every night, so Hiashi was saying that he had been observing him for a long time. It was an indirect gesture of goodwill. After all, the two had barely spoken before, and from another perspective, there was still some resentment tangled between them. No matter how Hizashi's matter was calculated, Hiashi could not avoid being implicated.

"Yes. Teacher Hizashi used to say the same thing," Yuun replied frankly. Mentioning Hizashi openly before Hiashi showed that he did not resent the Main House over what had happened back then. In truth, the Main House certainly knew that Hizashi had visited Yuun's home before he died. Since that was the case, it was better to lay everything out in the open.

"Yes, Hizashi used to enjoy taking walks too..." Hiashi stopped and stared blankly at the full moon overhead. Yet after only a moment, he recovered, turned to Yuun, and his gaze suddenly sharpened. "We have walked long enough. Let's test each other here."

"Yes!" Yuun's expression grew solemn as he slowly assumed his stance.

"Good." Hiashi's eyes lit up at Yuun's posture. He assumed the same stance, and beneath the moonlight, their forms were exactly identical.

"Gentle Fist!" They activated their Byakugan almost simultaneously, then each took a step forward. Their four palms collided. "Vacuum Palm!"

The palm wind, compressed to the limit, burst from where their palms met. But neither of them was pushed back by the explosive force, having long since anchored themselves to the ground with chakra.

"Mountain-Breaking Strike!" Realizing that a simple clash of palm wind was no match for Hiashi, Yuun decisively increased his force. Chakra compressed into a cone surged through the meridians in both his arms and shot toward his palms. If Hiashi did not withdraw his hands and took the attack head-on, he might not suffer serious injuries, but this sparring match could more or less be declared over.

"Rotation." As the strongest of the Hyuga Clan's current generation, how could Hiashi fail to notice Yuun's little move? But mindful of his status, he naturally disdained winning through such tricks. He waited until Yuun attacked first before responding.

As a member of the Main House and the strongest of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi naturally used the genuine Rotation. The rapidly spinning chakra barrier abruptly expanded outward. Fortunately, Yuun had prepared for this. Seeing that things were going wrong, he dispersed the chakra beneath his feet while pouring as much chakra as he could through both palms, using the recoil of the palm wind to propel himself backward.

Although Yuun had changed tactics in time, he had still underestimated the power of Hiashi's Rotation. He flipped several times in midair, then retreated several more steps after landing before finally dissipating the force. Even so, Yuun was left looking somewhat disheveled, with quite a bit of dust on his white clothes.

"Again." Hiashi took several quick steps forward and struck at Yuun's chest with his palm. Yuun raised an elbow to deflect Hiashi's hand, then countered with a palm strike of his own. The two exchanged blows, palm shadows flying everywhere. Once the fight entered close quarters, moves requiring time to charge were no longer useful. As they traded techniques, they searched for each other's openings as much as possible. If they could find none, they created openings themselves to lure the other into making a mistake.

Both Yuun and Hiashi had practiced the Gentle Fist for more than a decade. Their mastery of exchanging techniques was so refined that neither could possibly make a mistake. Still, Yuun was at a disadvantage in this exchange. Setting aside the difference in skill and experience, he also lost out in size. Gentle Fist techniques were not necessarily better when performed by a larger body, but Yuun was still noticeably shorter than Hiashi, leaving him at a constant disadvantage in their clash.

However, Yuun quickly realized this. He forced Hiashi back with a Rotation, stood where he was, took several deep breaths, and assumed his stance again. "Lord Hiashi, I'm starting now."

"White Gale, hm." Hiashi ignored Yuun's form of address, but his expression became much more serious. If their earlier spar had tested the foundations of the Gentle Fist, then now he would see Yuun's understanding of it. "Let me see it. Let's see whether you are worthy of that title now."

After regulating his breathing for a while, Yuun had refined enough chakra. The moon was directly overhead, and under its light, even individual hairs could be seen clearly. But for the two who had activated their Byakugan, it made no difference whether there was moonlight or not.

"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams: Wandering Dragon Step!" Yuun had actually conceived of this move before learning the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. By releasing chakra through the soles of his feet, he accelerated his movements, while changing the points of output allowed him to move rapidly forward, backward, left, and right. It could not compare to the absolute speed gained by opening the Eight Gates, but for short-range movement, it was exceptionally useful.

However, only the Hyuga Clan, whose meridians were innately far wider than those of ordinary ninja, could perform such a technique. Even if other ninja possessed enormous amounts of chakra, their meridians could not withstand such a massive flow. The only outcome would be immediate death.

If it was purely a contest of high-speed movement, Yuun's Wandering Dragon Step still could not match the Body Flicker Technique. But this move held a tremendous advantage for Yuun: it could be activated and stopped at will. Whenever Yuun wished, he could change direction and launch a surprise attack on his opponent, unlike the Body Flicker Technique, whose position could easily be judged by experts before they killed its user with a casual strike.