The Hyuga Clan, trapped in its old ways

As the enormous python writhed, Orochimaru vanished from Kazuhiko and the others' sight. Only after he had left completely did Hayato and Sosuke relax, their bodies collapsing uncontrollably to the ground after the extreme tension. Of the entire squad, only Kazuhiko and Madara Uchiha had withstood Orochimaru's killing intent.

"Sensei Kazuhiko, who was that terrifying guy?"

After finally finding the courage to kill someone, Hayato had thought he had grown. But meeting Orochimaru made him realize he was still just a frog at the bottom of a well.

"His name is Orochimaru. He's a student of the Third Hokage and a rogue ninja from our own Konoha. If you encounter him outside the village, stay as far away from him as you can. Even I'm no match for him."

Kazuhiko let out a long breath as he answered Hayato's question. At the same time, he stole another glance at Madara Uchiha, whose expression had not changed.

Even if he had been on a battlefield at four years old, Madara Uchiha's performance was still astonishing. Even Kazuhiko had trembled inwardly under Orochimaru's killing intent. Whatever Madara Uchiha had been thinking, the mere fact that he showed no outward fear put him leagues ahead of countless chunin.

What Kazuhiko did not know was that Madara Uchiha felt no fear at all. In fact, he was ecstatic.

If anyone had been disappointed by Orochimaru's defection, Madara Uchiha certainly numbered among them. In his original plans, Orochimaru had been a subordinate worth bringing under his command. But Orochimaru had left before he could grow strong enough, and in such a vast world, finding the man again would have been difficult. Now that he knew Orochimaru was working for the daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields, he could simply come here to find him in the future. How could Madara Uchiha not be delighted?

After the incident with Orochimaru, Kazuhiko Sarutobi and the others safely escorted Shizuko's group to their destination. Madara Uchiha, Hayato Hyuga, and Sōsuke Aburame had completed their first C-Rank Mission with a scare but no harm done.

"Hah! Hah! Hah!"

Compared with the tension on their journey out, Kazuhiko and the others were naturally much more relaxed on the return trip. Whenever everyone stopped to rest, Hayato Hyuga would step aside to train. As he struck a tree with one palm after another, Madara Uchiha approached him, feigning curiosity.

"Are you training here?"

"Of course! Just you wait. I'm no match for you now, but once I master the Hyuga Clan's ninjutsu, I'll be much stronger. Then I'll beat you! Uchiha Itachi, I officially declare you my target!"

Hayato Hyuga had overcome his mental barrier when the bandits appeared, but Madara Uchiha had still performed far better than he had when killing them. Compared with Sōsuke Aburame, who was the same age as him and never showed his hand, Madara Uchiha was younger yet outshone him in every way, naturally stirring Hayato Hyuga's competitive spirit more strongly. In Hayato's mind, Madara Uchiha was the person he had to surpass. Seeing the usually taciturn Madara Uchiha actually strike up a conversation with him, Hayato Hyuga immediately seized the opportunity to issue his challenge.

"But aren't you forbidden from learning all your clan's powerful ninjutsu?"

Faced with the innocent Hayato Hyuga, Madara Uchiha once again rubbed a generous handful of salt into his wounds.

"You!!"

Hayato Hyuga stared at Madara Uchiha's deliberately innocent face, unsure whether this seven-year-old brat genuinely did not know he should not say such things to him or was deliberately needling him.

"Can you answer a question for me? Your Hyuga Clan seems to like using Gentle Fist to strike people's chakra points. But if you can already hit an enemy's chakra points, why not just stab them with a kunai? Even if you can restrict their chakra through those points, what if they have enough chakra to break through the seals? Wouldn't that make your attacks useless? On the other hand, if you stab an enemy with a kunai, anyone would have trouble getting back up while bleeding nonstop, wouldn't they?"

Madara Uchiha's question once again left Hayato Hyuga speechless.

"Gentle Fist is a taijutsu style that drives the user's chakra into an enemy's body, damaging their internal chakra pathways—the meridian system—and their organs. Unlike ordinary taijutsu, which causes external injuries, Gentle Fist primarily causes internal damage. Someone struck by Gentle Fist may show little injury on the surface, but their organs and meridians will be damaged, often fatally. Holding a kunai interferes with the user's control over their own chakra, reducing Gentle Fist's precision. Itachi, stabbing an enemy with a kunai can certainly injure them, but Gentle Fist's ability to cause internal destruction is actually greater than that of an ordinary piercing attack. Personally, I'd rather be stabbed with a kunai than take a blow to the shoulder from a member of the Hyuga Clan who can use the Byakugan. As for someone who can break through sealed chakra points with chakra, frankly, I've never encountered anyone like that."

Seeing his two students discussing ninjutsu, Kazuhiko Sarutobi joined the conversation as their squad's teacher. As their Instructing Jōnin, teaching them to grow stronger while leading them on missions was indeed part of his responsibility. He could not really guide Sōsuke Aburame, who had his own clan's secret techniques, and Sosuke's unusual background also made it inappropriate for Kazuhiko to instruct him. There was little advice he could offer him. But Kazuhiko Sarutobi was naturally willing to teach Hayato Hyuga, who specialized in taijutsu, and Madara Uchiha, who could learn anything.

"If holding a kunai interferes with chakra control, then practice with a kunai in your hand. Gentle Fist can drive your chakra into an enemy's body, but a kunai can serve as a medium for chakra too, can't it? Sensei Kazuhiko, if a kunai pierced your meridians and chakra was injected through it to increase the damage, do you think you could withstand even one hit? Hayato can't learn any advanced Byakugan ninjutsu as a member of the Hyuga Clan's branch family anyway. He might as well blaze a different trail for himself."

You've never met an enemy who could break through Chakra Acupoints Sealing with Chakra? That's only because you're weak.

From Madara Uchiha's perspective alone, he himself, Hashirama Senju, and those tailed beast jinchūriki—which of them lacked that ability? He had experienced the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist firsthand. After all, when the village was founded, he and Hashirama had crushed the Hyuga Clan. Even then, Madara Uchiha had considered their Gentle Fist of little practical use. He had never expected that, over a hundred years later, the clan would still be so trapped in its old ways, having developed no ninjutsu that he could consider an improvement. More laughable still, despite having so little ability to begin with, the clan actively restricted the development of its branch family members. Without the village's protection, they would probably have long since been carved up by the other villages coveting their Byakugan's reconnaissance capabilities.