Impact

The early autumn sun broke through the barrier of mountains, revealing half a smile. Strands of gentle light spilled across the world, suffusing it with rosy clouds.

The warm sunlight was like a pair of warm hands, gently caressing Hyuga Iwa's cheeks.

In his dreams, Hyuga Iwa stood upon a lake shrouded in mist. The fog was so thick that he could barely see his hand before his face.

Hyuga Iwa stood there motionlessly, his eyes tightly shut.

Suddenly, a ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds and mist, shining onto Hyuga Iwa's face. As though he sensed something, he slowly opened his eyes.

The fog before him had long since vanished completely.

Delight filled Hyuga Iwa's face. With a thought, he slowly opened his eyes in reality.

"What a powerful illusion! Even with my Byakugan bloodline, I was completely unable to resist it!" Hyuga Iwa frowned and muttered, "How did this even form?"

Hyuga Iwa had an inexplicable feeling that there was no sign whatsoever of him having fallen under a genjutsu.

Gathering his chakra, Hyuga Iwa carefully sensed himself over and over. As he did, he thought: My control seems to have improved quite a bit. That should be the gain from opening the gate yesterday. But this illusion...

"Huh~"

Hyuga Iwa had been unable to let go of the illusion. Then, he suddenly discovered something strange: there seemed to be an unusual kind of chakra within his meridians!

Hyuga Iwa sensed it carefully for quite some time before finally confirming that it truly was not his chakra. No, there was a difference between them, yet they both somehow seemed to be his chakra!

Moreover, if Hyuga Iwa's chakra control had not happened to improve so much, he would not even have noticed the difference between the two kinds of chakra!

Could it have been the influence of this chakra that caused him to fall under the illusion?

More importantly, what kind of chakra was this? And how had it appeared inside his body?

Hyuga Iwa was completely baffled. He calmed himself and began sensing it again in earnest.

Hyuga Iwa discovered that this foreign chakra was unexpectedly difficult to control. Moreover, as time passed, it continued to dissipate, completely beyond his control!

Hyuga Iwa instinctively frowned as a bold thought surfaced in his mind: Could this be Sage Chakra?

Equally difficult to sense, equally difficult to control!

Thinking about it that way, the two really were quite similar.

Soon, as Hyuga Iwa pondered, that foreign chakra gradually vanished completely. Only traces remained, flowing continuously through his meridians before finally disappearing deep within his brain.

A cool sensation rose in his heart.

Come to think of it, ever since waking up that morning, Hyuga Iwa had noticed that his eyes were inexplicably sore and swollen. It had eased somewhat now.

After cautiously examining himself and finding nothing else amiss, Hyuga Iwa got dressed. After washing up, he began a new day.

After eating the loving breakfast his mother had prepared, Hyuga Iwa set off for school.

Along the way, Hyuga Iwa occasionally heard villagers discussing what had happened yesterday. That long passageway had drawn many people over for a look.

Hyuga Iwa had no intention of explaining anything to them. He merely found it amusing and wondered how the village would deal with it.

As usual, Hyuga Iwa walked while controlling chakra, gathering it in his palm and shaping it into the numbers he wanted as much as possible—this was a chakra control exercise he had devised himself.

Of course, this method of controlling chakra was difficult, far more difficult than he had imagined!

Up until now, Hyuga Iwa had never clearly formed a single number. Those chakras were like mischievous children; no matter how he disciplined them, they refused to obey.

Years of failure had made Hyuga Iwa feel that his method might have been wrong.

But today was unexpectedly easy. Perhaps because his control had just improved, Hyuga Iwa effortlessly formed a "1" in his palm. Though it was still crooked, it was at least recognizable!

Then, with another thought from Hyuga Iwa, the crooked "1" slowly dispersed before immediately shifting again. A moment later, a "2" appeared in his palm!

Then came 3, 4, 5, 6, all the way to 9.

After changing through them all once, it began transforming again under Hyuga Iwa's control.

"Phew~"

Hyuga Iwa let out a soft breath to ease his tense emotions. Only then did he realize that he had unknowingly stopped walking, while passersby looked at him curiously and occasionally whispered to their companions.

"Hehe~"

Hyuga Iwa chuckled foolishly twice, refocused on his palm, and resumed walking toward the school.

Perhaps because all his attention was focused on controlling his chakra, Hyuga Iwa failed to notice that after he left, a figure slowly emerged behind him.

Those eerie vertical pupils, cruel gaze, and cold expression were enough to make anyone's heart tremble at a glance.

Orochimaru watched Hyuga Iwa's departing back and muttered, "What incredible chakra control! What a genius idea, to come up with such a method of training chakra control. This little brat keeps bringing me more and more surprises! I truly want to enter his consciousness and see what other ideas he has!"

Hyuga Iwa, still practicing, seemed to sense something and turned to look behind him. But Orochimaru was already nowhere to be seen on the street.

"And that sharp sensory ability... the Byakugan. I really want to study it," Orochimaru hissed as he flicked his tongue in the shadows and slowly retreated.

When Hyuga Iwa arrived at school, he heard the classroom buzzing before he even entered. He did not need to guess to know they were discussing yesterday's events; after all, the impact had been rather enormous.

Sure enough, the instant he opened the classroom door, it fell silent. But once the students saw that it was Hyuga Iwa, the discussion grew even louder.

"Hyuga Iwa, Hyuga Iwa, do you know what happened yesterday? I heard that passageway was destroyed by a spy using ninjutsu?"

"Hyuga Iwa, Might Guy's house seems to be over there, right? Did you see who destroyed it yesterday?"

For a moment, Hyuga Iwa was surrounded by a flock of chirping birds, their questions coming nonstop. One after another, he had no idea how to answer them all.

Hyuga Iwa's face immediately fell. Unfortunately, his baby-faced appearance inspired no fear in his classmates. They all eagerly surrounded him, waiting for an answer.

Hyuga Iwa sighed inwardly, then painfully squeezed out of the crowd and fled the school in embarrassment!

Yes, that was right. Hyuga Iwa shamefully skipped class.

Who had never skipped class before, right?

Since he could not stay at school, Hyuga Iwa decided to go to the hospital. He wandered there and arrived at Leaf Hospital.

However, Hyuga Iwa had underestimated the villagers' love of gossip. The moment he entered the hospital, doctors and nurses stopped him, asking this and that, prying into every detail. It became unbearably annoying, and in the end, he fled the hospital as well.

With nowhere to go, Hyuga Iwa suddenly realized that aside from Guy, he seemed to have no friends. When something happened, he did not even know who to turn to.

Speaking of Guy, he seemed not to have a mission today. Hyuga Iwa just did not know whether he was home. As a member of a ninja squad, even if only temporarily, he still needed to train with his teammates. Otherwise, if he was unfamiliar with his teammates and something happened, poor coordination could cost them their lives at any moment!

After thinking it over, Hyuga Iwa decided to go take a look. If he happened to meet Might Duy, he could also ask him about the Eight Gates.

With that decided, Hyuga Iwa set out. He practiced forming numbers as he walked, so he did not feel bored.

When Hyuga Iwa arrived at Guy's house, he found the passageway Might Duy had punched out surrounded by people—both civilians and ninja.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had originally planned to seal off the site, but yesterday's incident had occurred too suddenly, the spectacle had been too conspicuous, and it was too close to Leaf Village. It was simply impossible to keep it sealed off.

Furthermore, Hiruzen Sarutobi learned afterward who had caused the incident. Since the person was an active ninja of the village, there was no longer anything to worry about.

So he decided against sending anyone over and simply let people look. It could even confuse spies from other countries, making it a good way to kill two birds with one stone.

But while it was a novelty to others, it was not good news for Hyuga Iwa and Might Duy. Somehow, people had learned that the house beside it belonged to Might Duy, and a huge crowd had gathered outside their home, asking for information.

Hyuga Iwa circled around outside the house but could find no way inside. He shrugged and gave up on entering, instead heading eagerly toward the passageway.

Looking at the roughly hundred-meter-long, chaotic passageway, Hyuga Iwa was still somewhat tongue-tied.

"Powerful destructive force, isn't it?!"

While Hyuga Iwa was lost in thought, Kakashi Hatake came to his side. Staring blankly at the passageway, he subconsciously said it.

"Yeah." Hyuga Iwa answered casually, then suddenly thought of something. Turning his head, he said, "Why are you here too?"

"Ah? Oh~ I heard my father mention this today, so I came over right away to take a look." Kakashi Hatake paused, seemingly considering whether to ask. But after only a moment of hesitation, he still asked, "Iwa, you know who caused this, right?"

Hyuga Iwa stared intently into Kakashi Hatake's eyes, and Kakashi Hatake did not back down, staring just as intently into Hyuga Iwa's eyes.

Suddenly, Hyuga Iwa nodded and said, "Yeah, I know."

After thinking for a moment, he decided to tell him the truth. Kakashi Hatake was someone he could trust, after all!

"The Eight Gates. Uncle Duy used the Eight Gates to cause it!"

"Gasp~"

Kakashi Hatake could never have imagined that such destruction had been caused by that uncle!

The Eight Gates—although he had heard Guy talk about them long ago, calling them the ultimate secret of taijutsu—Kakashi Hatake could never have imagined that taijutsu could cause such terrifying destruction!

"Iwa..."

"Ah, Kakashi, if you want to learn the Eight Gates, just go talk to Uncle Duy yourself. But just because someone else can do something does not mean you can too. Training in taijutsu is even harder and more tedious than training in ninjutsu. It is not something ordinary people can persevere through. Of course, if you have the determination to keep at it, then I will sincerely wish you well."

Although Hyuga Iwa had spent the past few years training his body, his training intensity was still far lower than that of Might Duy and Guy.

On one hand, he was still growing and was not suited for overly intense training. On the other, Hyuga Iwa simply had too many other things requiring his attention.

After all, a person's energy was limited. It was impossible to be perfect in every area. The more time you spent here, the less you had to spend elsewhere. That was not something human will could change.

Unless someone could control time. But could such a person really exist?

Hyuga Iwa did not know, nor did he want to know. Even if such a person existed, they were not someone he could come into contact with at his current level.

Hearing Hyuga Iwa's words, Kakashi Hatake's face lit up. He hurriedly asked, "Really? But would Uncle Duy teach me?"

"If you truly want to learn, I'll have Uncle Duy teach you another day. If that doesn't work, go find Guy. Aren't you two friends?"

"That's true. But why not today... uh, I think I know why."

During their conversation, more and more villagers had deliberately come to view the scene, making the area even noisier.

Hyuga Iwa and Kakashi Hatake exchanged sympathetic looks, then both laughed.

"Come on, Kakashi. It seems like we haven't sparred in a long time, right? Shall we have a match at the school's training ground?"

Hyuga Iwa suddenly became interested and made the suggestion.

"What do you mean, a long time? We've never sparred at all! Come on, I've always been curious just how strong you are!"

"Heh, I hope I won't disappoint you."

"Haha, no matter how strong you are, I'll definitely knock you flat!" Kakashi Hatake, already a Chunin, was exceedingly confident in his own strength.

Although Hyuga Iwa might be rather strong, Kakashi Hatake still believed he was stronger. At the very least, he had far more combat experience than Hyuga Iwa.

"Let's wait and see!"

Hyuga Iwa did not argue. Today, he only wanted to vent properly!