"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!" Yusei appeared in front of Dosuke.
In Yusei's eyes, a massive Eight Trigrams formation instantly took shape, with Dosuke standing directly at its center.
Pop, pop, snap, snap!
A rapid barrage of strikes landed on Dosuke's body.
Boom!
Yusei's final palm struck Dosuke's abdomen. After completing the technique, Yusei leaped back and stood firm.
"Well, kid? Feeling the unbearable pain in your sealed chakra points now?" Yusei let out a mocking laugh, his expression twisted with a cruel desire to destroy. The bulging veins around his eyes made him look ferocious.
Dosuke said nothing and remained standing perfectly still.
"Do not worry, I will have you kneeling and begging soon..." Yusei grew angrier seeing Dosuke completely unmoved. His goal was to beat Dosuke senseless.
In his view, Dosuke was just a coward who hid in Konoha Hospital, first clinging to Tsunade's coattails and now trying to rise in status by getting close to a woman from the Hyuga clan.
This kind of civilian ninja brat needed to be thoroughly put in his place, to make him tremble at the very sight of the Hyuga clan in the future.
This was the prejudice against civilian ninjas in the village, though among Konoha's other great clans, such elitism ran even deeper.
As for Dosuke, aside from instinctively stepping back from the initial attack, every other one of Yusei's strikes had been blocked by a thin layer of pale blue water covering his body.
"Water Style: Water Bullet Technique."
Compressed chakra spheres shot toward Yusei, who was still running his mouth.
Boom!
A wooden log appeared where Yusei had been standing.
Substitution Jutsu. Yusei stared at the riddled log, his taunts dying in his throat.
"You bastard, did I not seal your chakra points?" Shock crossed Yusei's face, followed by a deep, rising killing intent.
Though not highly talented within the Hyuga clan, as a former main branch ninja, he knew the chakra point locations by heart. Yet now, he could not even handle a lowly Chunin brat.
Dosuke remained silent. To him, Yusei's actions had marked him as an enemy, one who intended to kill. He had no habit of wasting words on the dead.
Since this man had shown killing intent, Dosuke had no reason to spare him. But within the village, murder required caution. For now, beating this fool senseless would be enough.
"Water Style: Water Severing Wave." Dosuke formed hand seals. Over a dozen high-pressure water jets of varying lengths spiraled into existence before him.
With a wave of his hand, they shot through the air toward Yusei.
Bang!
Another Substitution Jutsu was used, but this time, under the relentless barrage, a deep, piercing wound opened on Yusei's leg.
A flash of blue light flickered beneath Dosuke's feet. Water Flash Step. "Leaf Whirlwind."
A powerful, whipping kick struck Yusei's already injured leg.
Seeing Dosuke close in, Yusei secretly rejoiced. If this kid engages in close combat, I will seal his points for sure.
Boom!
The force of the kick forced Yusei to crouch low. Dosuke's strike landed solidly on his shoulder, sending waves of pain through it. Yusei gritted his teeth and endured the agony.
"Gentle Fist: Palm Point Strike!" Yusei rapidly tapped both hands against Dosuke's legs.
But his fingers made contact, and Yusei's smirk froze. He felt no flesh, only a soft yet incredibly resilient surface. Looking closer, the area he had struck was coated in that same pale blue liquid.
Before he could react, his vision blurred as Dosuke's other foot came crashing down.
Excruciating pain exploded in Yusei's chest, and he was thrown backward.
Boom!
Yusei slammed back-first into a wall with a heavy impact.
Crash.
He slid down the now-cracked surface, slumping to the ground with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"You brat! Even if you beat me, the Hyuga clan will never accept you!" Yusei screamed hysterically.
The gap in their power was crushing. He never imagined a Chunin like himself would be overwhelmed in mere moments. Just a few ninjutsu had reduced him to this state. His Gentle Fist strikes were completely nullified by that strange blue liquid, which only seemed to appear at the precise moment of impact. Now, even under his Byakugan, it had vanished entirely.
Ignoring Yusei's insults, Dosuke formed hand seals and slammed a palm to the ground. "Water Style: Water Bullet Technique."
A glowing blue circle suddenly formed on the ground beneath Yusei, who was still slumped against the wall. A powerful jet of water erupted from it, launching Yusei high into the sky.
Dosuke stood still, watching dispassionately as Yusei began to plummet back to earth at breakneck speed. He then turned to leave.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher!" a sharp shout rang out behind him, followed by a fierce gust of wind.
Blue light flashed beneath Dosuke's feet. His body shifted unnaturally, evading the powerful strike without any visible effort.
Having dodged the attack, Dosuke turned to face the Hyuga clansman who was still holding his forward palm stance. He saw that another Hyuga had arrived and caught the falling Yusei.
"No matter the reason, injuring a Hyuga clansman means you do not get to walk away so easily," the user of the Mountain Crusher technique said, straightening up.
At that moment, the newly arrived Hyuga helped the supported Yusei stand before the newcomer. "Young Patriarch, this kid is the one who hurt me."
"Young Patriarch, be careful. That kid has a strange liquid protecting his body. My Gentle Fist had no effect on him."
"Do you not even ask why he was injured?" Dosuke stared coldly at the newcomer.
"Even if he made a mistake, the clan's rules will be the ones to punish him. An outsider has no right to do so," Hiashi, the young patriarch of the Hyuga clan, declared as he stepped in front of Yusei.
"Brother, Yusei's injuries are severe," said the other Byakugan user who was supporting Yusei.
"Take Yusei to get healed first. I will handle this situation," Hiashi ordered.
"Big brother!"
"Take him now." Hiashi's voice was firm and left no room for argument.
"Looks like I cannot leave just yet," Dosuke said. Seeing Hiashi take a battle stance, he slowly coated his body from his feet up in the pale blue water film.
Just as the fight was about to erupt, a new voice cut through the tension.
"You are openly using force in the village? Everyone, stop this at once!"