The Old Man Was Full of Himself

After nearly twenty hours of brutal fighting, her long-parched body had received unprecedented nourishment. In this refreshed state, Kicho arrived at the inner court's training grounds.

She had taken off her kimono and changed into a light-purple shinobi outfit reserved for combat.

The training grounds contained all manner of obstacles and equipment, capable of simulating various real combat situations.

Kicho walked up to the specially made wooden post she had once used to practice the Gentle Fist. In her mind, she swiftly imagined the post as an enemy that needed to be defeated and unleashed the Hyuga-Style Gentle Fist.

Since it was only a warm-up, Kicho stopped after practicing the Gentle Fist for half an hour.

Although she had not formally trained for nearly a year, her movements had not grown rusty when she used the Gentle Fist just now. Instead, they felt even more natural than before.

Kicho was not surprised by this. During her pregnancy, she had not truly been idle, doing nothing at all. Since she could not practice the Gentle Fist, she had focused her efforts on training the power of her Byakugan.

In the end, it was not the Gentle Fist that made the Byakugan what it was. Rather, it was the existence of the Byakugan that allowed the Gentle Fist to become the Hyuga Clan's mainstream taijutsu. That order could not be reversed.

Besides that...

Kicho walked over and sat down, taking out a black ninjutsu scroll.

The scroll was made from a special Chakra Tree. Unlike ordinary scrolls, this kind could be inscribed with ninja techniques and traps.

If the correct hand-seal sequence was not used, the trap on the scroll would be triggered. Not only would the scroll self-destruct, it would also suddenly attack its target through an explosion or flames.

"Release!"

Kicho opened the scroll and formed hand seals in a particular sequence, undoing its seal.

The densely packed black characters on the scroll began to shift out of place. After several seconds of adjustment, the rearrangement finally stabilized, revealing the correct content.

Living Chakra Technique.

That was the name of the technique written there.

It was a special chakra-refining method Yayoi had passed on to her. By mastering it, one could achieve comprehensive improvements in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu.

The body's resistance to damage and recovery ability would also be enhanced.

During her pregnancy, aside from training her ocular power, Kicho had spent most of her time following the Living Chakra Technique described on the scroll, merging the chakra she refined and converting it into new chakra.

This chakra was also called Active Chakra, but it was entirely different in nature from Yayoi's Active Chakra. They merely shared the same name.

Now, the Active Chakra she had refined could already be applied to the Gentle Fist and the Byakugan.

"Although it is a refinement technique, in a sense, it is also a powerful forbidden technique focused on the fundamentals."

Looking at the contents of the scroll, Kicho could not help but sigh.

The reason it was called a forbidden technique focused on the fundamentals was that mastering it required extremely harsh conditions.

First, one needed powerful chakra.

Second, one needed exceptionally precise chakra control.

Third, one needed a strong body capable of accommodating the refined and transformed Active Chakra. Converted Active Chakra was heavier than ordinary chakra.

If one did not meet all three conditions, practicing this forbidden technique would not be life-threatening, but the meridian system would be unable to withstand the pressure and collapse on its own. In the end, one would become an ordinary person who could no longer be a ninja.

In other words, the minimum requirement for practicing the Living Chakra Technique was to be a Jonin-level ninja.

Kicho had studied it for more than three months before she managed to understand over half of its contents. There was still a portion that she could only fully comprehend once her strength improved further.

If she completely mastered this technique, she had a feeling that her abilities in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu would receive another boost.

And the changes would not be limited to combat power.

Kicho touched her fair, tender cheek. It felt as though water could be squeezed out with a light pinch.

Compared to two years ago, this face seemed not to have changed much at all. If anything, she even seemed a little younger.

Slowing aging and prolonging youth... that was also one of the benefits of practicing this refinement technique.

As a woman, Kicho had not yet reached the age where she needed to worry about growing older, but that did not mean she had no interest in extending her youth.

Kicho thought of Yayoi's face again. Compared to when she had first met him two years ago, he did not seem to have changed much either.

If this refinement technique had a single flaw, it was that its cultivation requirements were too demanding for it to be widely adopted.

Still, that was only natural.

Compared to all the enhancements brought by this refinement technique, the risks were hardly worth mentioning.

After studying the technique for roughly an hour, Kicho's head began to ache. She rolled up the scroll and put it back into the ninja tool pouch strapped to her thigh.

"Next, I need to use this Active Chakra to develop a more advanced Gentle Fist technique..."

She had mastered the basic Gentle Fist before the age of ten. After that, creating one's own Variant Gentle Fist was the path every Hyuga Clan ninja would take after reaching a certain level.

As early as last year, Kicho had wanted to develop a new Gentle Fist technique. She had also simulated the idea in her mind dozens of times, leaving no flaws in its theory.

All that remained was to turn that theory into reality.

Keeping her Byakugan active, Kicho stood up and returned to the special wooden post used for Gentle Fist training.

It was a synthetic wooden post, harder than steel.

It also possessed a special resilience that could absorb force. As a result, destroying it was more difficult than simply destroying steel.

"Hah..."

Kicho lightly drew in a breath, stepped back, raised her right arm, and curled the five fingers of her right hand into a tiger-claw palm, taking up a fighting stance.

This was the force-generating method of the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.

Using the chakra points in the flesh of the palm, compressed high-density chakra was formed into a cannon blast like a chunk of iron. Then, that solid chakra, hardened to the level of steel, was launched through the air in an instant.

This attack method was similar to an air cannon. Though it was a long-range attack, the target's meridian system would still be struck and its chakra sealed.

The stance Kicho had assumed resembled the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, but on closer inspection, subtle differences could still be seen.

Boom!

The instant Kicho's tiger-claw palm lashed out, the sound was no longer that of air vibrating. Instead, it was an explosive shriek like the detonation of an explosive tag.

And what she fired was no vacuum projectile either. It was a savage white storm that roared like a beast, forming a sharp, ear-piercing solid shockwave that swept through everything in Kicho's field of vision with unstoppable force.

Orange-red light bloomed across the horizon.

Against the setting sun, the wooden posts in the training grounds had been blown away, towering trees uprooted, and hard earth gouged several meters deep. The simulated mountain had collapsed, while the artificial river had been buried beneath rock and soil.

When Aoi arrived at the training grounds in search of Kicho, she saw this scene. Her eyes widened in shock, and her open mouth could not close.

What on earth had Lady Kicho done here?

This scene was even more devastating than a battlefield bombarded by countless explosive tags in succession.

Within the dust and smoke that had yet to disperse, a slender figure flickered in and out of view. It was vaguely apparent that she was a young woman dressed in a light-purple female shinobi outfit.

"...Lady Kicho?"

Aoi hurried into the training grounds and stepped onto a patch of relatively intact earth. Drawing closer to the figure in the smoke, she called out uncertainly.

"It's Aoi. What is it?"

Kicho lightly waved her hand, dispersing the dust around her.

Her light-purple shinobi outfit had suffered severe damage, and even the ninja shoes on her feet were covered in scars.

Her once flawless, beautiful black hair was coated in dust, its luster dimmed.

Only her still-open Byakugan shone with a high-purity white glow that made Aoi's heart tremble. Deep within those pure white eyes, a faint violet hue could vaguely be seen.

When Kicho's Byakugan swept over her, Aoi could not help but shudder, as though the blood throughout her body had frozen solid.

"Um, Lady Kicho, I came to call you for dinner."

"Mm... is it that late already?"

Kicho glanced at the sky. Only the final glow of the setting sun remained on the distant horizon.

"I got a little too absorbed in training. Sorry for making you worry."

Kicho drew in a deep breath. The veins around her eyes returned to normal as she deactivated her Byakugan.

"Were you practicing the Gentle Fist?"

Aoi spoke instinctively, her peripheral vision sweeping over the devastation in the training grounds as she asked uncertainly.

"The only thing that can work with these eyes is the Gentle Fist, isn't it?"

Kicho answered as though it were only natural.

"That's true."

Aoi scratched her head and smiled awkwardly, feeling that she had asked a stupid question.

Still, she simply could not imagine what kind of Gentle Fist could turn the training grounds into this state.

It looked more like damage caused by a fierce, hard-hitting taijutsu.

"First, I'll take a bath. Then I'll eat and restore some strength. Otherwise, I won't have the energy to deal with my husband tonight."

Kicho rubbed her flat abdomen. She really was beginning to feel hungry.

Aoi's expression darkened.

Did Kicho think she could not understand that implication?

Training was already exhausting enough, yet she still intended to do that indecent thing at night. Was her stamina limitless?

Besides, had they not already indulged themselves like that yesterday?

"Forget it, that is a little troublesome. Aoi, bring the meal directly to the hot springs. Once my husband returns, have him come over."

"..."

So she had already planned to spend the whole night at the hot springs?

Was she not going to see the child? Or was that child merely incidental?

Even as her personal maid, Aoi found it difficult to keep up with Kicho's train of thought.

"Oh, right, Lady Kicho, there is one more thing I forgot to mention."

Kicho, who was about to head for the hot springs, stopped and looked back at Aoi in confusion.

"Lord Hideto sent a letter this afternoon."

Aoi reported with a serious expression.

"Who is Lord Hideto?"

"???"

That was your biological father! Did you just forget him? Aoi screamed inwardly.

"Oh my, I was only joking. Look how frightened you are."

Seeing Aoi's horrified expression, as though she had been scared senseless, Kicho covered her mouth and laughed softly, looking thoroughly pleased with her prank.

Lady Kicho is far too uninhibited here. She should return to the Hyuga Clan for two years and rein herself in.

Aoi could not help thinking.

"So that man sent another letter, did he?"

"Ah, yes."

Aoi came back to her senses and quickly took a letter from inside her clothing, offering it to Kicho.

Both Aoi and Rinko could tell that Kicho did not have a good relationship with her father, Hyuga Hideto.

After all, Kicho had no need to hide her likes or dislikes here. Whenever she saw a letter from her father Hideto, she would reveal an extremely cold expression of disgust and contempt.

There was no familial affection at all between this father and daughter.

Kicho tore open the envelope and took out the paper inside.

—My daughter Kicho, may this letter find you well...

After reading it, Kicho was not surprised. It was another request for aid.

Only, its meaning was expressed somewhat indirectly. He wanted to preserve his dignity as a father and could not allow his daughter to look down on him, but at the same time, the harsh circumstances forced him to seek help from her.

He wanted her to use the Land of Night's power to help him regain a firm foothold in the Hyuga Clan.

The Conservative Faction within the current Hyuga Clan had grown stronger than ever. For a member of the Radical Faction like him, one who favored martial solutions, life was clearly difficult.

"Lady Kicho, could it be that Lord Hideto is once again..."

Aoi recalled that Hyuga Hideto had sent several letters before. Though their wording had been extremely indirect, they seemed to be asking Kicho for help.

However, the meaning had been so vague that she and Rinko had needed to read them several times before figuring out his purpose.

And the language had been so old-fashioned that it was exhausting to read.

"Yes, just like before. That rigid, twisted man really has nothing but himself on his mind."

That was Kicho's assessment of her father, Hyuga Hideto.

"...No matter what, he is still your father. Shouldn't you perhaps be a little more respectful in your wording?"

"You said it yourself. He is only my father."

At Kicho's response, Aoi immediately fell silent.

Only her father... was that really how one could describe a father related by blood?

Lady Kicho truly was a butterfly that flew wherever she pleased.

Kicho quickly gathered chakra at the tip of her right index finger and began writing a reply on the back of the letter.

After finishing, Kicho folded the paper, put it back into the envelope, and handed it to Aoi.

"Have someone send it back."

"Yes."

Aoi accepted the letter and withdrew respectfully.