Their eyes widened.
"Byakugan!"
Both took a few steps forward at the same time and collided.
Their four hands seemed to become countless hands, clashing rapidly in midair.
Nearby, Nawaki couldn't help muttering, "He hasn't paid yet."
As he spoke, he grabbed Sōsuke Uchiha and quickly retreated.
The collisions between their hands had already stirred up gusts of wind.
Smack, smack, smack, smack, smack-thud!
The sounds of clashing hands rang out continuously, with a dull thud among them.
Nawaki felt that sound was rather close. He looked down into a pair of bewildered eyes. Sōsuke Uchiha had woken up.
Seeing the lump swelling on the back of Sōsuke Uchiha's head, he looked away guiltily.
"I lost again." Sōsuke Uchiha looked toward the center of the fight.
A fight between two Hyuga clansmen.
"Hizashi Hyuga?"
"You know him?"
Nawaki looked at Sōsuke Uchiha in surprise. He wasn't very familiar with the Hyuga Clan.
Sōsuke Uchiha nodded. "He was a member of Team 10 from two graduating classes before ours. He was once known as one of the Hyuga Twin Stars, but Team 10 suddenly disbanded a while ago for some unknown reason."
"So that smug-looking guy is a genius?" Nawaki looked disgusted.
Sōsuke Uchiha said solemnly, "Don't underestimate him. Team 10 completed a B-rank mission."
B-rank missions involved fighting Chunin, and Jonin could even appear.
"Hyuga Akira can actually fight a genius like that. He's bound to lose. No matter what underhanded methods he uses, they're useless against absolute strength."
He spoke through gritted teeth.
Although Hyuga Akira had always been called a genius and ranked first in every kind of exam, no one in their class actually acknowledged him as number one.
The guy used dirty tricks.
They only accepted his written exam results. But how had he lost just now?
Sōsuke Uchiha fell into confusion.
Watching the two evenly matched fighters, he sank into even deeper confusion.
It hadn't been like this before.
Nawaki chuckled. "You have no idea how strong my big brother is. There's no way Hizashi Hyuga can win."
He watched the fight with bright, intent eyes.
As Hashirama Senju's grandson, he was no weakling. He had long possessed the strength of a full-fledged Shinobi, yet even so, he was no match for Hyuga Akira.
"Impossible." Though Sōsuke Uchiha had lost decisively, he wouldn't admit it readily.
How could Hyuga Akira be that strong?
Nawaki merely said quietly, "Back when he fought you guys, my big brother never needed to take it seriously."
The fight had already changed.
Two palms collided, and the force drove both fighters back two steps.
Hizashi Hyuga took a deep breath, a faint eight trigrams diagram appearing beneath his feet.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
It was a secret art of the Hyuga Main Family. Only branch family members who had earned merit could learn it.
But Hizashi Hyuga was Hyuga Hiashi's younger brother, after all, and had learned the Hyuga Main Family's secret art as well.
He pushed off the ground and instantly closed in on Hyuga Akira, thrusting the upright fingers of both hands toward him.
It struck sixty-four of the enemy's chakra points, sealing the flow of chakra through their body.
Hizashi Hyuga's hands attacked like raindrops.
Hyuga Akira exhaled, but his body suddenly became light and drifting.
"Gentle Fist: Willow Fluff!"
Under Hizashi Hyuga's rain of attacks, Hyuga Akira's figure swayed in the wind like drifting willow fluff, evading every strike.
"How is that possible?!"
Sōsuke Uchiha's eyes widened. That was a secret art of the Hyuga Main Family. He knew about it too.
How could it be dodged just like that?
And did Gentle Fist even have a skill called Willow Fluff?
Of course it hadn't before.
This was a combat skill Hyuga Akira had developed himself, and it fell within Gentle Fist.
He controlled the flow of his own chakra, amplified his perception, and applied Gentle Fist throughout his body.
When an enemy's chakra approached, his body would react first and evade.
It could be described as...
A specific counter to the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist.
Hizashi Hyuga gritted his teeth, and chakra suddenly emerged from both hands.
"Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin!"
Blue chakra suddenly condensed into a hemisphere.
Hyuga Akira leaped backward a moment earlier, dodging the attack.
"Your Rotation isn't very good." He even had the leisure to tease him.
Although he had never practiced Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin, he knew how difficult it was. It demanded a high degree of chakra control.
Hizashi Hyuga's Rotation vanished in a flash. Clearly, he couldn't sustain it.
It wasn't even as good as his son's.
His son was a genius who had not only developed Rotation himself at thirteen but could also use it proficiently.
Such a genius was rare even in the Hyuga Clan's history, and Hizashi Hyuga clearly fell far short.
Still...
"You're stronger than your brother."
Hizashi Hyuga, in turn, was stronger than Hyuga Hiashi.
"What kind of judgment does your father have, making your brother part of the Main Family?"
Listening to Hyuga Akira's attempt to sow discord, Hizashi Hyuga wavered only briefly.
Hyuga Hiashi had become part of the Main Family not because of his talent or strength, but simply because he had been born earlier.
"My elder brother just lacks experience," Hizashi Hyuga tried to defend his brother.
Of course, that was also true. After becoming a Shinobi, Hyuga Hiashi had barely seen any combat.
Hizashi Hyuga, on the other hand, had experienced two years of real Shinobi life.
That was also the main reason the gap between them had widened.
"What a loyal dog." Hyuga Akira mocked him.
He didn't care about the brotherly bond between Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga.
Hyuga Akira stamped down and closed straight in on Hizashi Hyuga. His hands were no longer open palms or extended fingers, but clenched fists.
One step brought him right up to Hizashi Hyuga. Unable to use Rotation to defend in time, Hizashi Hyuga could only counterattack.
The instant Hyuga Akira closed in, he threw a punch. It was swift and fierce, carrying a considerable amount of chakra.
Sensing trouble, Hizashi Hyuga could only change his attacking stance, crossing his arms to try to block.
"Crushing Fist!"
Bang! Hizashi Hyuga flew backward. Hyuga Akira's feet tapped the ground in quick succession as he rapidly chased after him.
He leaped from the ground, raising his leg high.
Hizashi Hyuga's expression changed. Both his arms were powerless at that moment.
"That's not Gentle Fist! That's Strong Fist!"
Bang!
The kick chopped down onto Hizashi Hyuga, slamming him heavily into the ground. His eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
[Experience: 512]
Hyuga Akira nodded in satisfaction and glanced at the panel.
[Chakra: 30/120]
His chakra was gradually running out, and at the same time, his experience pool held enough for him to level up.
[Experience pool: 1965] [Experience: 160/2000]
Adding all his experience would leave a little over after leveling up.
With so little chakra remaining, he couldn't keep fighting.
He poured all the experience in his experience pool directly into his leveling experience.
"Level up!"
Chapter 13: The First Max-Level Skill Appears
[Name: I'm Xiao Ming] [Class: None] [Level: lv13 (125/2500)] [Chakra: 130/130] [Skills: Gentle Fist (lv3), Clone Technique (lv2), Substitution Technique (lv5), Transformation Technique (lv2), Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm (lv3), Byakugan (lv3), Fire Release: Unknowing Fire (lv1)] [Experience pool: 0] [Equipment slots: (Bandit's left greave) (Bandit's right greave) (Bandit's right gauntlet) (Bandit's Sword) (Bandit's armor)] [Inventory: Kunai (0), Explosive Tag (9), Shuriken (99), wire (0)...]
Hyuga Akira felt the chakra inside him increase a little. His physical strength and agility had also improved slightly.
Although there was no attribute panel, leveling up definitely increased all his attributes, though not by much.
At most, they increased by roughly a tenth of their previous values.
Watching Hyuga Akira, Nawaki thought a golden light seemed to flash across his body.
Like a god descended into the mortal world.
Yet he also felt his eyes might have been playing tricks on him.
He asked Sōsuke Uchiha, "Did you just see a golden light come out of my boss?"
Sōsuke Uchiha stiffly shook his head. He simply couldn't believe Hizashi Hyuga had lost just like that.
That was Hizashi Hyuga.
One of the Hyuga Clan's Twin Stars!
Hyuga Akira didn't care about any Twin Stars. He simply walked over to Hizashi Hyuga, crouched down beside him, and slapped his face twice.
Before you continue