Martial Artists Are Just Like This

The moment the two minutes were up, Hizashi appeared on time and scrutinized the three of them with an oppressive gaze. "You didn't even hide in advance. It seems you're quite confident in your own strength."

Might Guy kneaded his fists and shouted, "Teacher, hurry up and start!"

"Come on. Timing starts now." Hizashi put one hand behind his back and extended only his right hand.

Though his test was for them to last three minutes against him, he had no intention of attacking from the very start. Otherwise, three newly graduated Genin would not last even half a minute against him.

"Ha! Leaf Hurricane!" Might Guy let out a strange cry and leaped at Hizashi.

Shizune did not yet know any offensive ninjutsu. She merely seized the opportunity to throw shuriken to interfere.

Hizashi easily caught Might Guy's right leg as it kicked toward him, then swung it like a weapon to knock aside the shuriken Shizune had thrown.

Might Guy did not panic. Instead, he seized the shuriken and sent them flying toward Hizashi at greater speed, while wrapping himself tightly around Hizashi's right arm like a koala.

Knowing Might Guy's taijutsu skills, Shizune was not worried that her shuriken would hurt him. Once she saw that he had "locked down" Hizashi, she fired every shuriken on her body.

Seeing their coordination, Hizashi gave a slight nod, but he showed no mercy. One Rotation directly sent both the incoming shuriken and Might Guy flying.

"Not bad, but the two of you alone are far from enough..." Hizashi commented, then glanced from the corner of his eye toward where Setsuna had been and was startled.

Setsuna had vanished at some point. He, a Jonin, had not even noticed when Setsuna disappeared.

"Teacher Hizashi, watch out."

The voice suddenly coming from behind him made Hizashi's scalp tingle. Realizing that Setsuna was in the Byakugan's blind spot, he seemed to have no time to react before that surging force blasted him away. Like a train, he plowed a long, narrow trench through the ground before lying motionless in the crater at its end.

"Brother Setsuna, you killed Teacher Hizashi!" Might Guy's face was full of shocked concern, and Shizune looked equally worried.

Setsuna merely laughed. "You're underestimating Jonin too much."

As soon as he spoke, the corpse in the crater turned into a piece of dead wood.

Setsuna could not help feeling impressed. Although Teacher Hizashi was a taijutsu ninja, his hand seal fundamentals were quite solid. The Substitution Technique required five hand seals.

Of course, that was also because he had called out beforehand. Otherwise, Hizashi would not have had time to form the seals at all.

"Watch out, Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Palm!" Hizashi's voice came from Setsuna's rear flank. He now regarded Setsuna as an opponent on his own level and did not dare underestimate him in the slightest.

"Gentle Fist?" Setsuna's eyes lit up. As a martial artist, his greatest dream was naturally to gather the martial arts secrets of every world, forge them into one, and become a true grandmaster.

Moreover, this fist art had enormous potential. It seemed to have been passed down from Kaguya Otsutsuki's Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack.

"Two Palms, Four Palms, Eight Palms..." A faint green Eight Trigrams formation seemed to emerge beneath Hizashi's feet as he continuously struck the acupoints on Setsuna's body.

As they watched the two fight, Might Guy and Shizune looked utterly bewildered. It was not that they wanted to slack off; their eyes could barely keep up with the pair's speed, so naturally they could not intervene.

Setsuna kept blocking and retreating, his eyes wide as he observed openly and shamelessly learned from Hizashi. He could clearly feel a strange force seeping into his body, attempting to damage his internal organs.

For people of the Naruto world, this fist art was exceptionally dangerous. After all, internal organs could not be trained.

"A force similar to hidden strength?" Setsuna suddenly understood. His Acupoint Striking could cut off the flow of blood and energy, so it possessed similar effects.

"If you can't take it anymore, say so." Hizashi was also worried that his Gentle Fist would cause irreversible damage to Setsuna.

"Teacher Hizashi, there's no need to worry. Please use it to your heart's content." Setsuna's tone was calm, and he seemed completely at ease.

Naturally, cultivating qi could train the internal organs as well. Otherwise, the future Goku could not have trained under extreme gravity.

"...Thirty-Two Palms, Sixty-Four Palms!" Hizashi stopped holding back and unleashed the full Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

Yet Setsuna, having endured the entire Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, still stood firm. His eyes shone brightly, and he did not look injured at all.

"You're actually fine?" Hizashi was deeply shaken. This was the first time he had seen someone take all sixty-four of his palms without suffering any injury.

Besides, even if Setsuna's internal organs were strong enough to resist the damage, his acupoints should have been struck, slowing his movements.

Setsuna explained, "I shifted my acupoints, so your Acupoint Striking doesn't work on me, Teacher."

Hizashi looked utterly incredulous. "You can move your acupoints?"

Setsuna nodded as if it were only natural. "That's just how we martial artists are."

Hizashi's mouth fell slightly open. He really wanted to ask whether he could learn it too.

But something even more shocking came next.

Setsuna assumed the stance of the Gentle Fist. "Please judge it, Teacher. Gentle Fist: Two Palms, Four Palms..."

Hizashi watched in disbelief as Setsuna used the Hyuga Clan's inherited taijutsu, continuously countering and defending against his moves until Setsuna even performed the sixty-fourth palm.

"You... you..." Hizashi did not even bother dispelling the hidden force inside his body. His voice was unbearably dry, and he could not comprehend it. "How do you know the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms?"

Setsuna apologized, "Teacher Hizashi, I'm sorry. After watching you use the Gentle Fist once, I somehow learned it on my own."

Back in the Dragon Ball world, the Crane Hermit had taught him all kinds of martial arts principles. With his understanding of taiji and the Eight Trigrams, learning the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms from such a lofty perspective was naturally not too difficult.

Hearing that, Hizashi fell silent.

If the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist were truly so easy to copy, it would have spread throughout the entire ninja world long ago.

The Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms in particular was a secret art passed down orally within the Hyuga main family. The branch family could usually only master up to Thirty-Two Palms. He had relied on his own talent and spent ten years comprehending it on his own, yet Setsuna had used it after seeing it just once.

After a long silence, Hizashi finally said, "You are a taijutsu genius, but this battle isn't over. Let me see how far you can take the Hyuga Style fist art."

The two clashed again, both using the Eight Trigrams Palm. Anyone unaware of the truth would have thought two Hyuga Clan ninja were fighting.

As time passed, Hizashi increasingly felt as though his body had been filled with lead. Setsuna could ignore that hidden force, but the concealed injuries within Hizashi's own body kept accumulating.

"I never thought my Gentle Fist would lose to an outsider." Hizashi's expression was complicated. He had wanted to surpass the main family through his own efforts, but now he could not even surpass an outsider.

"Though this is a little shameless, I still have to protect the Hyuga Clan's honor." Hizashi firmed his resolve and suddenly used Rotation to send Setsuna flying.

"Oh? So this is the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation?" Setsuna widened his eyes again as he observed.

Hizashi said in a deep voice, "Blindly attacking will only expose openings. The Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms becomes the Hyuga Style's strongest combination technique only when paired with Rotation's absolute defense."

Setsuna shook his head slightly. "There is no such thing as absolute defense in this world."

"Then try it. But let me remind you: the instant Rotation blocks an attack is the best opportunity for a Sixty-Four Palms counterattack."

Setsuna removed his wristbands and ankle weights. Watching the weights hit the ground with a heavy thud, Might Guy became wildly excited. "Brother Setsuna is going all out!"

The veins at Hizashi's temples throbbed. Setsuna had been fighting him while wearing weights the entire time?

"Teacher Hizashi, watch out." Setsuna gave a warning, then shot forward like a cannonball. The ground beneath his feet instantly cracked apart.

Hizashi did not dare be careless and hurriedly used Rotation.

Setsuna's fist crashed heavily into the blue barrier formed by Rotation. Time seemed to freeze. The next moment, the barrier shattered with a thunderous blast. The scattered chakra currents uprooted the surrounding trees, while Hizashi spun into the sky like a top that had been smacked away before plunging headfirst into the ground.

Seeing this, Might Guy was finally satisfied. "Just as expected, the same ending as Lord Jiraiya."