Deep in the forest, Neji stood with his arms crossed.
"First of all," he said coolly, "let me make this clear — I don't see you as an enemy. You're simply someone I have to surpass. That's all."
"Competition's a good thing," Chiba replied casually. "Only by pushing each other do we all grow faster."
He waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry, I don't take you as an enemy either. I didn't come to talk philosophy — I came to make a deal."
"A deal?"
Neji blinked, startled.
On the way here, he'd been turning over countless thoughts in his mind — wondering what Chiba wanted, how he'd explain himself.
And it turned out… the kid just wanted to trade?
"I want to verify acupoint positions and pressure-point strikes with your help," Chiba said, smiling faintly. "In return, I'll teach you a jutsu you'll definitely find interesting."
"A jutsu I'd be interested in?"
Neji frowned deeply.
There was only one kind of technique that could pique his interest.
"That's right," Chiba said with a nod. "In a sense, you could call it a variant of Gentle Fist. I just finished developing it."
"Gentle Fist? Impossible!"
Neji's expression turned cold in an instant.
To him, Gentle Fist was an art that only the Hyuga Clan could wield. No outsider could possibly master it.
"Let me put it simply — it's this kind of technique."
Chiba's eyes sharpened. He stepped forward and thrust his palm toward a nearby tree.
Thud!
A dull, heavy sound echoed.
Neji activated his Byakugan — and what he saw made his pupils contract in shock.
The tree's surface bore only a small, needle-like puncture. But inside, the fibers had been shredded and twisted, as though ripped apart by a spiraling force.
That was on a tree.
If that had been a human body, the internal organs and bones would've been a mess.
What a terrifying technique!
Neji didn't speak for a long while. After several seconds, he finally looked up at Chiba.
"…Why?"
"Hm?"
"Why can you do something like this?" Neji asked, his voice unsteady. "You're just… a commoner. Your destiny is…"
He trailed off, words tumbling incoherently.
He had never really seen Chiba as an enemy — more like an anomaly, an aberration he had to overcome along his path.
But every time, this boy would shatter his understanding of what was possible.
It had been that way before.
And now .
He simply couldn't comprehend it.
"Destiny?" Chiba blinked, a little puzzled. "If you've already surrendered to destiny, then why do you bother training at all?"
"Because I—"
"You're probably about to say you're a 'born genius,' right? But even geniuses have to train," Chiba interrupted bluntly.
He waved his hand . "Anyway, I'm not here to argue about fate — that's kid stuff. Let's get back to our deal."
"..."
Neji fell silent.
After a long pause, he exhaled slowly. "You want to learn pressure points? But you can't see the chakra nodes — how are you going to strike them?"
"I can roughly estimate their locations," Chiba replied. "Besides, I want to test something."
"I don't believe it," Neji muttered, but his tone softened. "Fine, go ahead."
His Byakugan veins bulged visibly — a sight that could easily unnerve anyone unfamiliar.
Chiba, however, was long past being startled.
He thought for a moment, then extended a finger and tapped a spot.
"How about that?"
Neji's eyes widened. "You… you actually hit it?"
At first, he couldn't believe it — but remembering that Chiba had already developed a Gentle Fist–like technique, perhaps this wasn't so impossible after all.
"It seems the position of this acupoint doesn't shift with age. What about this one?"
Chiba tapped another location near the abdomen.
"A bit to the right."
"Left."
"Up…"
Neji corrected him repeatedly, until finally he gave up and began pointing out the exact spots directly, using himself as a model.
He really was a genius — even at his age, most branch-family Byakugan users couldn't yet see chakra points clearly, but Neji could.
With his help, Chiba quickly confirmed the positions he needed.
Then Chiba said, "Alright, let me try one more technique. Watch the effect."
"Okay."
Neji nodded.
A moment later, chakra threads shot from Chiba's fingertips — dozens of them.
They weren't sharp enough to cut, but each was condensed and stable, lashing out toward Neji's body.
Within seconds, several acupoints were struck — some even by multiple threads at once.
In a flash, eight of Neji's chakra points were sealed.
"You… you can use threads to hit acupoints?" Neji's jaw dropped.
He instantly understood Chiba's concept.
Even if some acupoint positions couldn't be perfectly determined, the approximate locations could be — and with enough precision control—
"Is it that strange?" Chiba asked mildly. "What I don't get is why your clan, with such an incredible ability like the Byakugan, just clings to old forms instead of innovating."
He retracted the threads. "Anyway, thanks for your help."
"..."
Neji clenched his fists, anger flickering across his face.
He hated the main family's arrogance, but deep down, he still took pride in the Hyuga's strength.
And yet… when he thought about it, he couldn't refute Chiba's words.
For all these years, the Hyuga's Gentle Fist hadn't evolved in the slightest.
His fists trembled. A trace of frustration and unwillingness rose in his chest.
Chiba turned to leave — then paused.
"Oh, right. I just demonstrated it once. Did you get it?"
"..."
Neji's handsome face reddened slightly.
"Then watch ," Chiba said patiently. "The principle's simple — condense your chakra to a dense point, drive it in, then make it diffuse and rotate."
He walked him through the steps, demonstrating as he spoke.
When Chiba finished, Neji nodded. "I understand."
"Good. Try it."
Neji focused, recalling the sequence in his mind, then struck out with a palm—
Boom!
The chakra detonated outward.
Neji froze, looking a little embarrassed.
"Keep practicing," Chiba said, smiling faintly. "If it's too hard, simplify it — just make the chakra you drive in explode directly, like that last attempt."
He was remarkably patient — until he couldn't help adding, "By the way, all that 'Two Palms, Four Palms, Eight Palms' stuff your clan uses… maybe think about optimizing the power a bit?"
"I—"
Neji's knuckles whitened. He had no comeback.
And that just made it worse.
"Alright then. We'll work together sometime."
Chiba waved and started back toward Lee and the others.
Neji practiced the new technique a few more times, frustration simmering inside.
You call that a genius? My foot!
But after stewing for a while, he began to understand what Chiba had really meant.
The original version of the technique was far too difficult — at least A+ level.
As a Hyuga, he didn't need to master it perfectly.
He just needed to absorb the idea behind it — and make it his own.
For example…
Incorporating chakra compression and burst effects into the Eight Trigrams Palms.
Neji adjusted his approach, eyes lighting up with realization.
Meanwhile, outside the grove, Chiba was instructing Lee and Mami — and it must be said, those two were much harder to teach than Neji.
Their comprehension was… abysmal.
Thankfully, he wouldn't have to substitute for long — kid would probably be out of the hospital by afternoon.
Chiba perched on a branch, quietly finishing his written report.
By dusk, he led Neji and the others to the medical ward to visit kid, while he himself went straight to the Hokage's Office to submit his reports.
They were both important — especially the one about the Gentle Fist variant.
Because Chiba had a bold little idea:
He wanted to use this new technique as a lever —
to pry open the gates of the Hyuga Clan.
For all their conservatism and rigidity, the Hyuga were still a noble house with deep knowledge and resources.
Even if they refused to trade their secrets, the connection alone would be worth it.
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