Guidance

In this world, issuing missions and receiving rewards was the most normal thing imaginable.

Take the children at the Ninja Academy, for example. From the moment they entered the school, they were taught this mindset: no matter how young they were, as long as they completed a mission, they could receive the corresponding reward.

At the same time, the school encouraged students to spend part of their money on issuing missions. On one hand, this kept missions continually available; on the other, it helped students understand what kind of profession a ninja was.

Hanabi Hyuga wanted to issue a mission at the school, asking Inuzuka Ye Fan to guide her training.

Ye Fan considered the process too troublesome, and the school would also deduct part of the payment as an intermediary fee. So he directly agreed with Hanabi Hyuga on the compensation for each lesson and did not use the school's platform.

"Hanabi, your movements are too broad. That makes it easy for your opponent to exploit an opening!"

"Hanabi, your palm strikes are too obvious. You need to mix feints with real attacks."

"Hanabi, watch your footing. How many times have I told you? That's your weakness!"

On the training ground, Ye Fan directed the little ninja hound to fight Hanabi Hyuga while pointing out her mistakes.

Hanabi Hyuga learned very seriously. For every piece of guidance Ye Fan gave, she responded, "Yes!"

Moreover, every time Shadow knocked her down, she immediately climbed back up. She never cried out in pain. She was an exceptionally tough and competitive little girl.

Iruka watched Hanabi Hyuga and Ye Fan from afar, finding it unbelievable—perhaps even incomprehensible.

The daughter of the Hyuga Clan's head had actually paid someone who could not graduate from the Ninja Academy to guide her. Who would believe it if it got out?

"All right, Hanabi, stop for a moment!" Ye Fan called out with a frown.

Hanabi Hyuga lowered her stance and looked at Ye Fan, who sat opposite her, her breathing slightly labored.

After the guidance just now, she felt more and more that Senior Ye Fan was truly capable. Every issue he had pointed out was one of her shortcomings, and her father had said similar things many times.

"Hanabi, I've found even more problems with you now. Correcting them one by one would be too slow. You lack many fundamentals. If you don't build a solid foundation, you'll expose even more problems later." Ye Fan looked extremely serious.

Hanabi Hyuga did not understand what he meant and stared at Ye Fan with a puzzled expression.

Ye Fan beckoned to Hanabi. She walked over, a cute and bewildered look appearing on her face.

"Hanabi, let me ask you something. Have you never learned leg techniques?" Ye Fan stared at her.

Hanabi nodded. The taijutsu and secret arts passed down by the Hyuga Clan simply did not include leg techniques.

"So that's how it is. It seems you've never specifically trained your lower body either. No wonder!" Ye Fan wore an expression of realization.

Hanabi was even more confused.

"Hanabi, if I'm not mistaken, there are three transitions in the Thirty-Two Palms of the Eight Trigrams you just used that aren't smooth." Ye Fan spoke calmly.

Hanabi Hyuga looked shocked upon hearing this. How had Senior Ye Fan seen that?

"It should be the transition between the seventh and eighth palms, between the thirteenth and fourteenth palms, and between the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth palms," Ye Fan continued.

At that moment, Hanabi Hyuga was too shocked to speak.

Only her father, who guided her palm techniques every day, knew about this. Yet Senior Ye Fan before her had watched for only a short while and already knew all of it.

"Let me think about how to solve your problem." After muttering to himself, Ye Fan began to ponder.

Hanabi Hyuga quietly watched Senior Ye Fan. At that moment, she found him more mysterious than ever.

After a brief silence, Ye Fan seemed to have finished thinking. He muttered, "Specialized training for these three movements should solve the problem of the awkward transitions."

"Senior Ye Fan!" Hanabi's eyes filled with anticipation.

To solve the problem of her palm strikes not linking smoothly, all she could do was train constantly, refining them over and over and practicing again and again.

Even her father could not offer her any good advice. He could only tell her to work harder.

"Next, I'll teach you three standing postures. As long as you practice them properly, barring any surprises, they should solve this problem of yours," Ye Fan said.

Thus, Hanabi Hyuga began following Ye Fan's instructions and assumed a standing posture.

She had thought that this sort of stationary standing posture would be easy to master, but after truly trying it, Hanabi realized it was nothing like that.

"Hanabi, lower your center of gravity a little more. Bend your knees—the angle isn't enough. Turn your palms upward... Standing like that is not only useless, it's harmful!"

Ye Fan continually corrected Hanabi's improper movements. She was clearly trying very hard, yet she simply could not do it right.

"Forget it, I'll help you!" Ye Fan could not stand watching any longer. He walked over and used his hands to help Hanabi Hyuga correct her posture.

"Your palms need to be like this. Your knees need to bend this far. Tuck in your hips. Yes, control your center of gravity..."

Under Ye Fan's hands-on guidance, Hanabi finally managed to barely assume the first standing posture.

At this moment, Hanabi was in a half-squat. The toes of her left foot lightly touched the ground, while both arms stretched outward. She looked as though she were performing White Crane Spreads Its Wings. Her entire body trembled, and after only a short while, her little face began to flush.

This posture was simply too uncomfortable for her. She felt that if she let her attention slip even slightly, she would fall over.

"Hold on. I know it's uncomfortable, but this is the most direct and effective method," Ye Fan encouraged her from the side.

Though Hanabi Hyuga was young, she possessed tremendous perseverance. Sweat had already begun appearing on her face, but she continued to endure without making a sound.

"Your posture is starting to deform again. Your knees—how did you do them just now?"

Ye Fan stood beside her, correcting her immediately whenever Hanabi's movements became improper.

While the two trained on the training ground, two people appeared in the corridor across from them. Both were around thirteen years old and wore ninja forehead protectors: one was a girl, and the other a boy.

"Neji, look! That little girl seems to be from your Hyuga Clan. What is she doing?" the girl asked Neji Hyuga beside her.

At this moment, Neji Hyuga had also noticed the little girl on the training ground, and he was deeply shocked.

"Hanabi Hyuga? Why is she here?" Neji Hyuga frowned tightly.

As a member of the branch family, he was not familiar with Hanabi Hyuga, but he would not mistake her for someone else.

Hanabi Hyuga was the second daughter of the main family, of noble status!