"So it's you… the disgrace of the Hyūga clan."
The moment Inuzuka Fang saw Kirito's face, he found it familiar, and quickly remembered the one person who had long been the butt of jokes among the major clans.
Kirito, however, wasn't angered. He simply gave a calm smile. "Saying that in front of this many people... are you sure that's wise? If you end up losing, it might be hard to find a hole to crawl into."
"Heh!" Fang laughed in anger. "Relax, really, relax all you want. That miracle you're dreaming of? It's never going to happen."
Without another word, he yelled an order.
"Take him down."
"Got it, bro, watch this!"
One of Fang's two cronies stepped forward and lunged barehanded toward Kirito's face, fully intending to grab him and smash him face-first into the floor in one smooth, brutal takedown. Clean, fast, and satisfying.
Kirito didn't do much. Just casually stepped half a pace to the side, and the hand missed completely.
"...!" The attacker scowled, now annoyed at missing. He launched into a flurry, both arms swinging aggressively at Kirito.
But Kirito dodged them all with minimal movement, nothing flashy, just the bare minimum needed to evade every strike.
"Damn coward! Is dodging all you can do?!"
Unable to land a single hit, the attacker grew more desperate. He began flailing with fists and kicks, trying to overwhelm Kirito through brute force.
Kirito remained light on his feet, calmly slipping past every move. Even in close quarters, the flurry couldn't so much as ruffle the hem of his uniform.
"Your attacks are slow, clumsy, and full of openings. Are you really a shinobi?"
Kirito spotted an opening and responded. A single palm strike knocked the attacker's arm aside, followed by a sharp two-finger jab straight to a pressure point at the waist.
"Guh!" The attacker staggered forward, hand clamped over his side. A wave of numbness and pain coursed through his body.
"You bastard!"
Kirito tilted his body just enough to dodge a punch, then locked the attacker's wrist with one hand, and jabbed his other two fingers into a key nerve cluster just beneath the ribs.
With half his body going numb, the attacker let out a yell as Kirito effortlessly flipped him onto the ground.
Off to the side, Hinata stared wide-eyed. Kirito's form... it looked almost like Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist.
But something was off.
"Hyūga-style Gentle Fist, huh? Who would've thought the Hyūga clan's infamous disgrace could pull it off," Fang commented with a mocking chuckle.
A misjudgment caused by incomplete understanding, Kirito thought to himself.
What he used did resemble Gentle Fist, yes, but it wasn't the real thing.
Hyūga's Gentle Fist targeted chakra points visible only through the Byakugan. But Kirito didn't need to see them. With the assassin's passive skillset granted by the Arsenal System, he had mastered human anatomy and vital points to an extraordinary level.
He didn't need a bloodline to know where to strike, he knew the body by instinct and training.
"No Byakugan, yet striking tenketsu? Fascinating." Fang cracked his knuckles. "Let me show you what Inuzuka-style beast taijutsu can do!"
He formed a hand seal, then dropped into a low stance. His fingers elongated into sharp claws, his teeth protruded into fangs. His posture resembled a wild animal ready to pounce.
"!" Kirito flickered sideways with inhuman agility.
"Rrgh!" A loud rip echoed through the air as Kirito's left shoulder was slashed, five claw marks tore through his uniform. Just a split second slower, and it might've reached flesh.
"Not bad," Fang grinned, shaking blood from his claws. "But let's see how long you last!"
He sprang forward again, limbs low and fast like a panther.
For a moment, just before his next attack, a faint glimmer of golden light shimmered at Kirito's feet, so brief it was like an illusion.
"Whoosh!"
"Wha-?!" Fang missed completely. His eyes widened.
"His speed... just jumped?!"
"No matter! I can go faster too!"
Snarling, Fang twisted mid-air and pounced again, ferocious as ever.
"Kirito-oniichan…" Hinata whispered anxiously, clutching her hands in worry. Kirito looked more and more pressed. She couldn't help but fear for him.
But Kirito remained as calm as ever. He dodged smoothly, over and over, his expression unchanging. And as he moved, he whispered silently to himself:
"One second."
"Give up yet?!" Fang taunted.
"Two seconds."
"You just gonna run forever?!"
"Three seconds."
"When I catch you, I'll break those damn legs of yours!"
"Four seconds."
"This cat-and-mouse game ends now!"
Fang had cornered Kirito against a wall, he had nowhere left to dodge.
"Five seconds."
[Passive Ability: Swift Boots, after 5 seconds out of combat without taking damage, movement speed +?]
"Whoosh!"
Kirito vanished.
"What the-?!"
He reappeared behind Fang without a sound, hand calmly rising, one finger extended.
A sharp jolt of pain struck the back of Fang's head, and just like that, the once-arrogant attacker collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
The crowd was stunned. No one had expected this.
Kirito, the so-called disgrace of the Hyūga clan, had just knocked out Inuzuka Fang with ease.
Fang might've been arrogant, yes, but he was no slouch. He'd ranked top three in his academy class two years ago and had already attempted the Chūnin Exams once. A true talent from a famous clan.
And yet here he was, defeated in front of everyone.
"You cocky little brat!"
The last of Fang's cronies, unable to bear the humiliation, drew his ninja blade and rushed toward Kirito in a rage.
The audience gasped. This wasn't a spar anymore. He was using real steel!
"Kirito-oniichan! Behind you!" Hinata screamed.
But Kirito didn't turn.
The moment the blade swung down-
"Clang!"
A crisp metallic ring echoed across the dōjō.
A broken sword tip arced through the air and clattered on the floor.
The attacker stood frozen. His weapon had been cut in half.
Nobody saw when Kirito drew his blade. Nobody saw the counter.
All they saw was Kirito, already having returned his katana to its sheath, calmly standing where he'd always been.
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters