A True Powerhouse Shouldn't Be Defined by Kekkei Genkai

Neji's right palm was already three inches from Zuo Hao's chest, chakra concentrated in its center. One more push, and he would strike the chakra point at the center of Zuo Hao's chest.

But Zuo Hao suddenly vanished.

It wasn't the Body Flicker Technique.

It was sheer speed.

He moved so fast that even Neji's Byakugan couldn't fully track him.

The next instant, Zuo Hao's voice came from behind him.

"You rely on your Byakugan too much."

Neji spun around. Zuo Hao stood five paces behind him, his hands still in his pockets.

"The Byakugan's ability to see through things and across great distances is powerful. It lets you see your opponent's chakra flow and chakra points in battle."

"But because of that, you've grown used to relying on it to predict your opponent's moves. You've neglected your most basic fighting instincts."

Neji's breath caught.

Zuo Hao was right.

The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist was built around the Byakugan. Without its ability to see through the body, the Gentle Fist couldn't be used.

And for that very reason, members of the Hyuga Clan, Neji included, relied too heavily on the Byakugan's sight.

"Seeing more than your opponent doesn't mean you'll win a fight."

Zuo Hao raised a finger and pointed at his own Sharingan.

"The Sharingan falls short of the Byakugan in some ways, but there are things I can see that you can't."

Neji pressed his lips into a thin line.

Then he dropped his Gentle Fist stance.

"You're right."

Neji's voice regained its usual calm.

"I do rely on the Byakugan too much."

He paused, then took a stance Zuo Hao had never seen before.

It wasn't the Gentle Fist.

It was some older, fiercer style of fist fighting.

"But that doesn't mean I'll lose."

Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin!

Neji began to spin. Chakra surged from all 361 chakra points across his body, forming a spherical barrier of absolute defense.

This wasn't an ordinary Rotation.

Neji had pushed the rate of chakra release to its limit. He spun at least thirty percent faster than he had in practice, and the chakra barrier had grown almost solid, glowing pale blue beneath the moonlight.

Zuo Hao raised an eyebrow.

"Now that's interesting."

Neji spun faster and faster. The spherical chakra barrier expanded, drawing in the surrounding gravel and fallen leaves and grinding them to dust.

Then, mid-spin, he stopped.

All that rotational energy and chakra compressed to the utmost in an instant. The moment his Rotation ceased, Neji thrust his right palm toward Zuo Hao.

Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!

The compressed chakra became an invisible shock wave that tore through the air and hurtled toward Zuo Hao too fast for the naked eye to follow.

That strike carried enough force to shatter an Earth Flow Wall three meters thick.

Zuo Hao didn't dodge or use Intangibility.

Instead, he formed Hand Seals.

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame."

Three minutes later...

Neji knelt on one knee, still struggling to catch his breath. He looked up at Zuo Hao before him and said hoarsely, "I lost... You really are strong."

Zuo Hao waved a hand casually, an easy smile on his lips. "Come on, don't make it sound so grim. You didn't lose to me. You lost to yourself."

Neji froze for a moment, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Sit." Without caring about the gravel and fallen leaves, Zuo Hao sat down cross-legged.

He patted the ground beside him, inviting Neji to sit too.

Neji hesitated for a moment, then sat cross-legged opposite him.

"Your Rotation and Vacuum Palm were impressive," Zuo Hao said. He raised a finger and traced a circle in the air. "But did you notice that from the moment you started Rotation to the moment you used Vacuum Palm, every movement and every release of chakra followed the Gentle Fist's prescribed forms exactly?"

Neji frowned. "That's how the Gentle Fist works. Every strike in the Eight Trigrams Palm has a set pattern and order. Even the chakra released during Rotation must follow the precise sequence of the 361 chakra points. These are traditional techniques of the Hyuga Clan..."

"Stop."

Zuo Hao raised a hand, cutting Neji off.

"That's your problem."

Neji looked even more confused.

Zuo Hao studied him, then asked a seemingly unrelated question. "Neji, what is the Byakugan to you?"

"The Byakugan?" Neji blinked, then answered, "The Hyuga Clan's Kekkei Genkai. It can see through the body's chakra network, grants a 360-degree field of vision and long-range sight, and..."

"I didn't ask for a definition." Zuo Hao interrupted him again, his crimson Sharingan gleaming darkly in the moonlight. "I asked what the Byakugan means to you."

Neji fell silent.

What did the Byakugan mean to him?

It was the Kekkei Genkai he had been born with, the pride of the Hyuga Clan, the tool that let him use the Gentle Fist, and also... the reason the Caged Bird Seal had been placed on him.

He had the Byakugan because he had been born into the branch family.

And because he had the Byakugan, the Main Family enslaved him.

"Looks like you've figured it out." Zuo Hao's smile took on a knowing edge. "To you, the Byakugan is a shackle. It's the Main Family's excuse to control you, a brand you'll never escape. Right?"

Neji's breath caught.

He said nothing, but his suddenly clenched fingers gave away his feelings.

"But have you ever considered this?" Zuo Hao lowered his voice until it sounded like a secret meant for Neji alone. "The Byakugan itself isn't the shackle."

"Your dependence on it is."

Neji's pupils contracted sharply.

Zuo Hao gave him no time to absorb that before continuing.

"The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist is built around the Byakugan. Without the Byakugan's ability to see through the body, you can't see an opponent's chakra network or chakra points, so the Gentle Fist can't block their chakra."

"That's why everyone in the Hyuga Clan is taught from birth that the Byakugan is the foundation of the Gentle Fist, the Gentle Fist is the foundation of the Hyuga, and without the Byakugan, you're nothing."

"But is that really true?"

Zuo Hao suddenly rose, looking down at Neji.

Moonlight shone from behind him, casting his shadow over Neji like a blade cutting through the night.

"Neji, answer me. If your Byakugan were sealed one day and you couldn't use the Gentle Fist, could you still fight?"

Neji pressed his lips into a thin line.

He couldn't answer.

No one had ever taught him how to fight without the Byakugan.

"You can't answer because you've never considered it." Zuo Hao's voice kept its lazy drawl. "The Hyuga Clan's training has locked your thinking into place."

"The farther your Byakugan sees, the narrower your thinking becomes. The more you perfect your Gentle Fist, the fewer ways you have to fight."

"Every move in your Eight Trigrams Palm and Rotation was flawless, following the forms as precisely as a textbook."

"And that's exactly why I could see through them at a glance."

Zuo Hao pointed at his Sharingan. "It's true that my Sharingan can't see as far as your Byakugan. Even with Three Tomoe, I can't see through the body's chakra network or see the chakra flowing inside you."

"But I knew where your next punch would land. I knew when your Rotation would leave an opening."

"Not because I could see it."

"Because you only throw punches according to a set pattern."

Neji's breathing lost all rhythm.

He opened his mouth. He wanted to argue, to defend himself, to tell himself this Uchiha Clan member was spouting nonsense.

But no words came.

Every word Zuo Hao had said struck exactly where it hurt.

He really had been following the forms all along.

The Gentle Fist's patterns, the standard opening stance for Rotation, the fixed sequence of strikes in the Eight Trigrams Palm, from two strikes all the way to the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

Every movement had to be exact.

The Hyuga Clan demanded perfection from the Gentle Fist.

But perfection itself was the greatest flaw.

"A true powerhouse shouldn't be defined by Kekkei Genkai, much less bound by tradition and prescribed forms."

Zuo Hao sat down again, folding his hands over his knees. For the first time Neji had seen, there was a hint of seriousness in his smile.

"The Byakugan gives you eyes that can see through almost anything, but you still have to use your own mind to judge what you see."

"The Gentle Fist gives you techniques to seal chakra points and defeat enemies, but techniques don't think. People do."

"The Main Family placed the Caged Bird Seal on you, but they can't carve it into your heart."

"Unless you choose to be the bird in that cage."

Neji's body jolted at those final words.

A storm churned in his pale eyes. Moonlight caught in them, splintering into an almost shattered gleam.

A bird in a cage might still find a way out.

Zuo Hao had said that before. Neji had thought he understood.

Only now did he realize he hadn't understood at all.