Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu vs. Rotation!

"Bang!"

Mikami Yu's side kick was blocked by Hizashi Hyuga. The recoil startled both of them slightly. Then Hizashi steadied his stance, spun with the force, and thrust his right palm straight into the opening at Mikami Yu's chest with a sharp whistle through the air!

So fast!

Mikami Yu's heart tightened.

But he had already guessed that Hizashi Hyuga was far stronger than Kaimon Hyuga. Though surprised, he did not panic. He immediately kicked off the ground with both legs and sprang backward seven or eight meters like a startled raccoon, barely evading the Gentle Fist fingers that could seal his chakra flow.

The two instantly put several meters between them.

The first exchange had ended in a flash, swift as a rabbit rising and a falcon striking.

Hizashi Hyuga slowly lowered the arm he had used to block, without pursuing. He merely stared at Mikami Yu with an astonished look. "Hey... that displacement jutsu you used when you rushed at me just now, was it really the Substitution Technique? Some improved version?"

Hizashi Hyuga had learned the Substitution Technique too.

The Hyuga Clan was merely not adept at Five Elemental Ninjutsu. They still dabbled in basic or supportive techniques such as the Three Techniques, Medical Ninjutsu, and Sealing Technique.

But Hizashi Hyuga had never seen anyone use the Substitution Technique with effects resembling the Flying Thunder God.

And besides...

Did you even form hand seals just now??

The Substitution Technique was a simple E-rank jutsu, but precisely because it was so simple, there was almost no room for further refinement. Let alone simplifying it into a one-handed seal or a seal-less jutsu. Even the Second Hokage, who was best at simplifying hand seals, probably could not manage such a thing!

"Of course it was the Substitution Technique. What else could it have been?"

Mikami Yu answered with certainty while discreetly flexing the slightly numb top of his foot.

That kick had felt like striking a steel plate. It was absurdly hard.

Still... after that preliminary probing, he had basically confirmed that Hizashi Hyuga truly just wanted to broaden his horizons. There was no obvious hostility or killing intent. In that case, Mikami Yu could be a little bolder and try some new tactics.

"If Senior Hyuga didn't see it clearly just now... then let's do it again."

As he spoke,

Mikami Yu moved both hands at once, his fingers filled with kunai and shuriken, then hurled them all in one burst!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!"

Seven or eight hidden weapons shot forth together, colliding with one another in midair and borrowing momentum as they traced dazzling arcs, enveloping Hizashi Hyuga from several angles at once! Though their trajectories were far less exquisite than those of a certain Uchiha prodigy who would later enter the battlefield at the age of four, they were still astonishing.

Facing the all-encompassing assault,

Hizashi Hyuga planted his feet firmly in place as though they had grown roots and shouted, "Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!"

The next instant, his arms blurred into a mass of afterimages. Chakra invisible to the naked eye wrapped around his palms as he precisely and swiftly slapped, deflected, tapped, and flicked at the weapons around him... The kunai and shuriken seemed to strike an invisible wall, each one knocked aside or sent tumbling down.

A string of crisp clinks rang out without pause.

Amid the flurry of flying weapons—

"Poof!"

Smoke rose again!

Mikami Yu vanished from where he stood and abruptly appeared only a meter in front of Hizashi Hyuga's left side, swinging a fist at the armpit beneath the right arm Hizashi had raised to block the weapons!

Without even turning his head, Hizashi Hyuga lashed his left palm backward like a venomous snake pecking at the attacker's throat! Yet his hand passed through nothing but a cloud of exploding smoke.

"Behind me!"

Hizashi Hyuga's Byakugan instantly caught the chakra disturbance at his back. He spun and delivered a fierce side kick, only for another afterimage to disperse.

"Left!"

"Right!"

Each time smoke burst open, Mikami Yu appeared like a ghost through the gaps in Hizashi Hyuga's defense, launching swift surprise attacks with either fists or feet! Yet every attack was blocked or driven back by Hizashi's Gentle Fist, and the sounds of colliding blows rang out endlessly.

From beginning to end, however, Hizashi's body never left an area within a single meter. Like a massive rock, he stood immovable beneath the crashing tide.

"It's useless!"

Between blocks and parries, Hizashi Hyuga shouted in a deep voice, "My Byakugan has no blind spots! No matter which direction you appear from, you can't escape its sight!"

"..."

Mikami Yu had noticed it as well.

His Substitution Technique was indeed fast. With the trait's enhancement, it took only 0.2 seconds to activate. But after each use, repositioning and moving his actual body still took time.

Though that time gap was short, it was enough for a Chunin with all-around vision and extensive combat experience to react and counterattack.

Which meant...

Namikaze Minato had become the Yellow Flash not merely because of the Flying Thunder God itself. His extraordinary neural reaction speed, dynamic vision, and spatial balance were the keys to using that jutsu so masterfully.

Ordinary people, such as Genma Shiranui and the other members of the Fourth Hokage Guard Unit, might also have mastered the Flying Thunder God, but they could only use it as a long-range teleportation array. It even required all three of them working together to activate it, making it completely impractical in actual combat.

The first hypothesis had been confirmed.

So next...

It was time to test another possibility.

At once,

Mikami Yu once again vanished from before Hizashi Hyuga using the Substitution Technique, then immediately formed hand seals and used the Transformation Technique. Hizashi, who had his back to him, instinctively swept the area behind him with his Byakugan. His brows suddenly furrowed, and he sharply turned his head to look behind him.

Where did he go??

How did he suddenly disappear?

Not overhead, not underground, not nearby...

As Hizashi Hyuga stared in astonishment, an inconspicuous little gray bird fluttered its wings, keeping itself at Hizashi's right rear, within the conical space extending from above his spine—the Hyuga Branch Family Byakugan's sole blind spot.

At the instant Hizashi Hyuga's fist stance loosened.

"Poof!"

Smoke exploded!

Mikami Yu's true body abruptly appeared in midair. He had already completed the hand seals while still in bird form, then puffed out his chest and blew forward. "Fire Style... Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"

\n[Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu: Hah! Finally, it's this young lady's turn to appear! Honestly, watching from the sidelines for so long was killing me with impatience... Watch me roast this pretentious Haku into charcoal! Burn!]\n

"Fwoosh—BOOM!!!"

With the enhancement of the [Spirit of Fire] trait,

A blazing orange-red fireball over a meter in diameter surged from Mikami Yu's mouth! Scorching heat spread outward as it hurtled toward Hizashi Hyuga below, who had only just realized something was wrong!

"What?!"

Hizashi Hyuga's eyes widened sharply, the rapidly expanding fireball reflected in his pupils. He had no idea how Mikami Yu had vanished from his sight, much less expected him to unleash such a powerful C-rank Fire Style jutsu!

At the critical moment, Hizashi Hyuga roared deeply as the chakra throughout his body spun wildly at an unprecedented speed. "...Rotation!!"