Making a Fortune

"Ten million ryo!"

After applying the medicine, Neji took two scrolls of secret techniques to Hiashi Hyuga and spoke.

"Ten million ryo. I'll hand over the Eight Trigrams Soaring Dragon Palm and the Zhouyi Eight Trigrams Domain Diagram that I created to the clan. The clan does not lack this money, but I need it for my training."

Neji could see that Hiashi Hyuga still felt guilty, so he refused to yield an inch.

"Fine. Take my token to the accounting office and withdraw it," Hiashi Hyuga said after a moment of silence.

"Neji, your talent and temperament are rare in this world. Over the years, the only one in Konoha who could compare to you was Kakashi Hatake. I hope you will not waste your talent!"

After returning from Hiashi Hyuga's place, Neji wore the smug expression of a nouveau riche.

"Xiao Xi, take it and spend it. Spend as much as you want!" Neji pulled more than half the bills from a thick stack and stuffed them into Xiao Xi's hands.

"No, Young Master Neji, how could I take your money? Please take it back. You cannot do this!" Xiao Xi refused repeatedly, her face flushed red.

Neji looked at the money in his hand and thought for a moment. "It really is too much. It would not be safe for you to carry it."

As he spoke, he pulled out a few more bills. "Xiao Xi, take these. Put the rest in my room. Help me change the meat order from last time so that we have meat for every meal, every day. Also, tell the butcher to keep an eye out for beast meat from little marten-type creatures. I'll pay a high price for it."

After a pause, he gritted his teeth and added, "That one from last time—the Purple Ox meat from the first shop, the one we could not afford. Have the owner deliver one jin every other day. Let's try to spend these ten million ryo within two years. Time is tight and the task is heavy, Xiao Xi. I'm counting on you."

Xiao Xi looked as though she had heard some absurd fantasy. Her little mouth fell open, and her face was full of confusion.

"Xiao Xi?" Neji called, somewhat amused.

"Ah?"

"Go ahead and do it. These things will help improve my strength."

"Mm... all right, Young Master Neji."

Hearing that Neji was not simply wasting money, Xiao Xi gave a firm nod, took the money, and ran out.

"Ten million ryo should be enough to pile my strength up to Chunin level. Then doing things will be much easier."

Then he suddenly thought of something, chuckled, and muttered, "I thought I was a talent-based player. Never expected to become a pay-to-win player."

Neji did not feel the slightest regret over the secret techniques he had handed over.

The Soaring Dragon Palm had only one move to begin with. Based on the conditions Neji had listed, there were not many Hyuga Clan members capable of practicing the Soaring Dragon Palm, and even if they learned it, its power would not compare to what Neji could wield.

In the secret technique, Neji had emphasized that practicing the Soaring Dragon Palm required extremely precise chakra control. Otherwise, one could suffer damaged meridians at best, or shattered meridians and crippled oneself at worst.

As for precisely how fine that control needed to be, Neji had not mentioned Tsunade's name. After all, someone his age should not have known about her.

Using Tsunade as a model, Neji described the Soaring Dragon Palm's power as massive amounts of chakra instantly flowing through the meridians before being released or explosively unleashed. He believed the Main House would understand.

Neji had displayed overwhelming might in the arena yesterday and had even broken the Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms. No one was blind; they knew it was a secret technique with S-rank potential. Combined with the Main House's similar experience in cultivating the Eight Trigrams Air Palm, they felt that they would profit no matter what, which was why they agreed to Neji's demand.

What they did not know was that Neji used Qi to execute the technique, and his chakra control surpassed even Tsunade's. Naturally, its power was greater as well.

As Neji continued training, the day would come when he comprehended chakra nature transformation. With every sweep of his palm force, coiling dragons would dance through the air, and its power would approach super S-rank.

Neji had long had a clear idea of his future training system: armor-piercing and defense-breaking attacks. Pressure point strikes and the like would be discarded early on.

Just look at the later stages of Shippuden. Kaguya Otsutsuki threw palm after palm with her left and right hands, using the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack as though it cost nothing.

And Toneri Otsutsuki, after activating the Tenseigan, threw around Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion and Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion at will. He could even cut the moon in half. When did they ever bother striking pressure points?

This was also the Hyuga Clan's helplessness. A clan sustained purely by bloodline had declined over hundreds and thousands of years, its bloodline long since thinned. Naturally, their chakra could not rise either, and painstaking calculation had become the clan members' helpless choice.

But Neji knew how the future would develop. In the late stage, when everyone was piloting mechs, pressure point strikes would not even be enough to clear fodder enemies. Neji had to prepare early for what lay ahead.

As for that Zhouyi Eight Trigrams Domain, Neji had merely made up an impressive-sounding name. In truth, he had added the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches around the outer edge of the Innate Eight Trigrams Diagram, thereby expanding the variations of the Gentle Fist domain.

Though he had only added two rings, they were priceless to the Hyuga Clan. Those two rings not only extended the Eight Trigrams Domain, but also added endless variations to the Gentle Fist's footwork.

It could be said that the Main House valued this Zhouyi Eight Trigrams Diagram even more than the Soaring Dragon Palm. It could be used immediately and tangibly improve one's strength, so the Main House felt they had struck gold.

But Neji was unconcerned. If he wanted, beyond the Zhouyi Eight Trigrams lay the Nine Palaces; beyond the Nine Palaces lay the Nine Stars, Celestial Stars, the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, the Seventy-Two Dragons, and more. Neji used the Three Harmony Compass from his past life to derive the Eight Trigrams Domain. He could create as many variations as he wanted.

"This time, I really did strike gold. I not only won first place, but also made a name for myself and proved my value. From now on, I can say there will be no more open trouble. As for trouble in the shadows, with their confidence in the Caged Bird, they will surely keep me alive to squeeze out every last bit of my value."

Neji reviewed his performance this time. After finding no major problems, he nodded in satisfaction.

As for offending the First Elder's branch, Neji believed someone would naturally make a move. "Hmph, the Main House is not a solid block either..."

"And Kosuke Hyuga—if he stays quiet, fine. But if he dares jump out again to seek attention, I'll let him taste the power of my Soul-Seizing Needle." Thinking of the hidden move he had planted within Kosuke Hyuga's body, Neji gave a sinister smile. "Stepping on me is not so easy to repay..."

Neji knew people like Kosuke Hyuga all too well. He might behave himself for a while, but as the saying went, the more one endured, the angrier one became; the more one retreated, the more one felt at a loss. For a spoiled, rotten child like Kosuke Hyuga, coming to trouble Neji was an inevitable outcome.

"Using it now would make people suspect me. Once some time has passed and this tournament no longer has any influence, I'll give you a vicious blow..."

As the saying went, strike first and gain the upper hand; strike late and suffer disaster. Neji did not want to guard against thieves for a thousand days, nor did he want to react only when soldiers came with generals or water came with earth.

Neji believed that being too passive did not suit the cultivation of his state of mind. Nipping danger in the bud was wisdom passed down by the ancestors of his previous life.

"Perfect. That little fatty has a wide circle of friends. I'll have him keep a close watch on Kosuke Hyuga and see whether that little bastard goes around inciting other Main House members. I do not want to waste my time on this nonsense."

Thinking of Zong Zhi's carefree personality, Neji made his decision.