After opening the Gate of Opening, Lin Ze felt exceptionally clearheaded. His body grew lighter, and his reaction speed increased dramatically.
Although his strength had not improved noticeably, he could handle Hikaru Hyūga's Gentle Fist much more comfortably.
However, Hikaru Hyūga was also a Branch Family prodigy who had grown up under the Main Family's harsh, even brutal training and the oppression of the "Caged Bird Seal" cursed seal. His willpower and strength were far from ordinary.
Hikaru Hyūga quickly suppressed his shock, pushed his Byakugan to its fullest, and brought his Gentle Fist skills to their limit as he engaged Lin Ze in close combat again.
Smack! Smack! Thud!
Although Lin Ze was faster and reacted more nimbly, Hikaru Hyūga's Byakugan let him see every movement of Lin Ze's muscles and every shift in his chakra flow. Combined with his tricky Gentle Fist strikes, he still managed to land hits on Lin Ze from time to time.
With the Gate of Opening active, his chakra could force the blocked points open faster, but as the hits accumulated, Lin Ze still felt his body gradually growing heavier, his chakra no longer flowing as smoothly.
Although Hikaru Hyūga was surprised by the secret technique Lin Ze had just unleashed, it was all futile before the Byakugan. He said coldly, "Heh, your taijutsu doesn't stand a chance before these eyes of mine!"
Looking at Hikaru Hyūga swaggering before him, Lin Ze was a little speechless. He knew that although Hikaru Hyūga was showing off, he was not wrong.
Below Kage level, the Byakugan offered an enormous advantage against other ordinary ninja.
With its 360-degree vision free of blind spots, the Byakugan could easily see through an opponent's movements. Even a high-speed Body Flicker Technique could hardly achieve a true surprise attack.
More importantly, it could see directly into the body's chakra pathways and chakra flow. Combined with the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, it could precisely strike an opponent's chakra points, disrupting their chakra and rendering them unable to fight in milder cases, or destroying their pathways and causing permanent damage in severe ones.
For ordinary ninja, facing a member of the Hyuga Clan with their Byakugan active was almost equivalent to having every move seen through. Every attack and every hand seal was exposed before their opponent's eyes. The suppression brought about by this information gap was almost overwhelming in low- and mid-level battles.
This was especially true at the Ninja Academy, Genin, and Chunin stages!
"If this level of speed won't work, then..."
"Eight Gates Released Formation, Second Gate, Gate of Healing! Open!"
Lin Ze had no intention of dragging things out any longer. Hikaru Hyūga put him under immense pressure. He could absolutely be called a prodigy on Kakashi's level!
This time, the change was even more obvious!
Veins bulged slightly at Lin Ze's temples, white currents of air appeared around him from time to time, and a powerful chakra aura spilled out uncontrollably.
Speed! Strength! Reflexes! They all surged again!
"How is that possible?!" Hikaru Hyūga finally cried out involuntarily. Through his Byakugan, the chakra inside Lin Ze looked as though it were boiling! It was more than twice as powerful as before!
This explosive increase went completely beyond Hikaru Hyūga's understanding!
Although most people in Konoha whose strength or standing had reached a certain level knew of the Eight Gates Released Formation, Hikaru Hyūga, as a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, naturally had no way of knowing about this secret technique.
Boom! Crack!!
Lin Ze drove through his legs, and the ground beneath his feet cracked like a spiderweb. Before the sound even reached Hikaru Hyūga, his fist was already in front of him!
Bam!!
Hikaru Hyūga had only just raised his arms when Lin Ze's punch sent him flying five or six meters, crashing heavily onto the fighting arena.
Lying on the ground, Hikaru Hyūga felt excruciating pain in his arms, as though the bones were about to break!
Bastard!! Hikaru Hyūga roared inwardly as humiliation and frenzy surged through him.
As a Branch Family member, he had borne a curse and despair since childhood. Only by training desperately and crushing others in strength could he find a shred of worth in his existence and make those in the Main Family spare him even a slightly respectful glance!
How much had he sacrificed? He had begun harsh Gentle Fist training at the age of three. Training until his fingers fractured and his whole body was covered in bruises was an everyday occurrence!
While other children played, he practiced striking chakra points on wooden posts! Through freezing winters and scorching summers, he had never stopped! All to master the power of these Byakugan and the Gentle Fist that the Main Family treasured!
He would never allow himself to lose! Especially not to an orphan from outside the clan who did not even have a kekkei genkai!
"You forced me to do this!" In a flash, Hikaru Hyūga's gaze turned frenzied. He abruptly scrambled up and leaped backward to put a little distance between them. His hands assumed a strange opening stance, and the chakra throughout his body surged madly toward his palms!
"Is that...?!" In the stands, some members of the Hyuga Clan cried out.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms!!"
Roaring, Hikaru Hyūga charged at Lin Ze like a whirlwind. His palms became a sky full of afterimages, forming what resembled a massive Eight Trigrams diagram and completely sealing off every avenue of escape!
Every strike targeted the sixteen vital chakra points on Lin Ze's body with precision!
This was the strongest move he had mastered so far, as well as his ultimate trump card!
At seven years old, with his chakra reserves, performing this move was an immense strain that could even damage his chakra pathways, but he could no longer concern himself with that!
"Sixteen Palms?!" Cries of surprise rang through the stands. No one had expected Hikaru Hyūga to have mastered this move! This was an advanced Gentle Fist technique that even some adult Hyuga Chunin might not be able to perform proficiently!
Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms?!
Facing this inescapable killing move, a trace of gravity flashed through Lin Ze's eyes as well.
Eight Trigrams Palm was the Hyuga Clan's secret nintaijutsu, divided into Eight Trigrams Two Palms, Four Palms, Eight Palms, Sixteen Palms, Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms, and Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Beyond those was the Main Family's secret advanced ultimate technique, Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!
In Lin Ze's memories, Neji had demonstrated Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and Rotation during the Chunin Ninja Exams at thirteen. He estimated that Neji had mastered Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms at around eight or nine, whereas Hikaru Hyūga was in the same year as Lin Ze and was only about seven now.
Geniuses really were all lunatics!!
I can't drag this out any longer!
Lin Ze could feel the threat of this move. If it landed and all sixteen chakra points were sealed at once, even with the chakra from the Gate of Healing supporting him, he would probably lose the ability to fight in an instant!
But it was not enough to make Lin Ze open the Third Gate. Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms might have been another matter.
Clearly, Sixteen Palms was already Hikaru Hyūga's limit at this age!
"Whew-"
Lin Ze drew a deep breath, pushed the power provided by the Gate of Healing to its limit, and focused intensely! The instant the Byakugan's Eight Trigrams field descended over him, he moved as well!
Lin Ze did not try to dodge it completely. That was almost impossible! Instead, he combined his strength and speed to their utmost, firing both fists like cannonballs to meet several of the most crucial points of force within that sky full of palm afterimages!
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
Fists and palms collided furiously, producing dull impacts that set teeth on edge!
Exquisite as Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms was, Hikaru Hyūga was still young. Neither his chakra nor his stamina could fully sustain such a complex technique, and his speed and strength both had their limits.
Meanwhile, with the Second Gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation open, both Lin Ze's absolute speed and his instantaneous explosive power exceeded what Hikaru Hyūga could handle!
After a suffocating series of rapid exchanges, Lin Ze caught a tiny opening in the flow of Eight Trigrams Palm!
Now!
A heavy punch, far more powerful than those before it, forcibly smashed aside Hikaru Hyūga's defending palms and slammed hard into his chest!
"Guh-!"
Hikaru Hyūga spat out a mouthful of blood. His body flew backward like a kite with its string cut and crashed heavily at the edge of the arena. The frenzy and disbelief in his eyes slowly froze. He struggled twice, but ultimately could not get back up.
His Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms, on which he had staked everything, had lost in the end!
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