"Ah... Sorry, Dad."
Hyuga Aokawa hurriedly put down Hyuga Fū.
He searched the surrounding area for two suitable branches, then tore off several strips of gauze.
Returning to Hyuga Fū's side: "Dad, I need to set your arms first. Bear with it."
"Otherwise, if you let these arms hang all the way back to the Village, they'll be ruined."
"Alright, go ahead!"
Hyuga Aokawa nodded, formed a hand seal, and activated his Byakugan.
Under the X-ray vision, he saw that the forearms weren't shattered fractures and breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at the break points, he carefully adjusted the position of the forearms relative to the upper arms.
Amidst Hyuga Fū's continuous groans of pain, he finally used the gauze and branches to temporarily immobilize Hyuga Fū's two broken arms.
Afterwards, he took out a water canteen and some ration pills, feeding them to Hyuga Fū.
He himself slumped down, took out a few more ration pills, and washed them down with water.
That series of instantly fired light arrows may not have been overwhelmingly powerful, but they were still quite Chakra-draining.
The Chakra reserves in his body were already completely depleted.
"You're something else, kid!"
Hyuga Fū, looking up at the sky, suddenly spoke.
"The one chasing you was at least a veteran Chunin, maybe even a Special Jonin."
"And you actually managed to kill him without a scratch on you, and still came back to help your old man."
"He underestimated me," Hyuga Aokawa replied, then added, "You weren't half bad either, Dad. That Daitu was at least a Jonin."
"If your leg wasn't injured, you might have even been able to kill him alone."
Upon hearing this, Hyuga Fū wore an expression that said it was only natural:
"As a member of the Hyuga Clan, shouldn't that be expected?"
He wasn't humble at all: "It's just that these past few years since I got injured, I've fought less and grown rusty, which is why I took a hit at the start of the fight."
He suddenly sat up straight, turned his head towards Hyuga Aokawa, and said:
"Now do you understand why I've always insisted you master the Gentle Fist?"
"The Gentle Fist combined with the Byakugan gives an advantage against fighters of all levels, except perhaps the Hokage."
"Even though you now have a method like the Holy Arrow, you can't neglect it."
"The Gentle Fist is an excellent complement to the Holy Arrow, but no matter how long-range a Ninjutsu is, there will always come a day when you get closed in on."
Hyuga Fū spoke earnestly.
Hyuga Aokawa had never liked the Gentle Fist since childhood. He feared that after his son awakened a new Kekkei Genkai, he would completely abandon the Gentle Fist.
"Don't worry, Dad."
Watching Hyuga Fū ramble on, Hyuga Aokawa smiled and gave him a reassuring pill.
"The Gentle Fist is also an indispensable part of my taijutsu system. I won't neglect it."
Taijutsu itself was an important part of the system Hyuga Aokawa had designed, and the Gentle Fist had its own unique merits.
Although its drawback was that the subsequent Secret Techniques were tightly controlled by the main family, leaving many branch family members stuck in a limbo.
However, he now had the Stone Gate. If he was lucky, there should be a chance to obtain the subsequent Secret Techniques.
He just needed to figure out how to explain the origin of these Secret Techniques.
Seeing that his son had taken his words to heart, Hyuga Fū also nodded and slowly leaned back against the wooden wall.
Then, he suddenly jolted upright again, looking at Hyuga Aokawa.
"What's wrong now, Dad?"
"Where did you get that Water Release Ninjutsu from?"
Hyuga Aokawa didn't respond. His eyes darted away.
He really didn't know how to explain this matter to Hyuga Fū.
He couldn't very well say he obtained it from the Stone Gate.
That was his greatest secret.
Even his father, he dared not tell.
It wasn't a matter of distrust, but rather that once spoken, it could invite immense trouble.
The Ninja World was a place where even the dead couldn't keep secrets.
Besides, letting Hyuga Fū know about the Stone Gate's existence held no meaning.
But how should he explain it to him?
"If you won't say, your old man won't ask."
"Just don't show off your new Kekkei Genkai and Ninjutsu in front of the clan members."
Hyuga Aokawa was taken aback and asked, puzzled, "Why is that?"
Hyuga Fū shook his head: "Can't really put it into words. It's just a feeling I have."
"The clan has always propagated the ideology of 'Gentle Fist supremacy,' discarding all other schools."
"But from my many years of observation, it's not that the clan looks down on learning other things, but rather that they don't want us to learn them."
"They don't want clan members to develop systems outside the Gentle Fist?"
This somewhat overturned Hyuga Aokawa's original understanding.
He had always thought the Hyuga Clan was arrogant and conceited.
Because of the existence of the Byakugan and Gentle Fist, they had become complacent and closed-off.
Believing there was no need to learn anything besides the Gentle Fist, because it was unnecessary.
But from what Hyuga Fū just said, there seemed to be another reason hidden within.
They didn't want clan members to learn.
Given the nature of the main family, this probably meant it was forbidden to learn.
To put it bluntly, it was an unspoken rule.
"Is this to further control the branch families through the Gentle Fist?"
Hyuga Fū shook his head: "That's just my intuition. Because with this 'Gentle Fist supremacy' ideology, I've yet to see anyone in the clan actually learn Ninjutsu."
"So my theory hasn't been verified either."
Hyuga Aokawa nodded.
If that's the case, then he needed to be careful about it.
Suddenly.
A series of words from the Stone Gate appeared one after another.
[Helping the weak and oppressed, aiding the vulnerable. You have gained Favor]
[Body Flicker Technique experience *1]
[Body Flicker Technique upgraded to proficient level]
[energy crystal *120]
Then, these words all disappeared, and new text emerged.
[Eliminating tyranny for the people, removing harm for the populace. You have gained Favor]
[Eighty Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms experience *1]
[Eighty Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms upgraded to Practiced level]
[energy crystal *60]
This should be the reward for eliminating the bandits.
[Bravely capturing a spy, protecting national secrets. You have gained Favor]
[Earth attribute Chakra *1]
[Earth Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Practiced level) *1]
[Earth Release: Earth Pillar Explosion (Practiced level) *1]
[Crushing Rock Body Technique (Practiced level) *1]
[energy crystal *340]
"Crushing Rock Body Technique?"
Hyuga Aokawa was very curious.
He carefully perceived the memories related to this taijutsu.
He discovered this was probably obtained from that Ninja called Daitu.
It was a school of taijutsu from the Land of Earth.
Different from Konoha's light and agile style of taijutsu.
Crushing Rock Body Technique was more suitable for tall, power-type Ninjas.
Its attacks were characterized by overwhelming force and weight.
This wasn't very suitable for him.
However, some of its concepts for generating power, as well as its physical training methods, could be borrowed for reference.
But for now, he didn't have time to study it.
A short while later, both of them had recovered most of their stamina and a bit of their Chakra.
Hyuga Aokawa then got up and, with his Byakugan active, went to the various underground rooms in the stronghold.
Amidst a chorus of gratitude, he released all the imprisoned women inside.
He also distributed some of the loose paper money seized from the cave among them.
Telling them to each return home.
Afterwards, he returned to the woods and stripped anything of value from Demon Forest's body.
Earlier, his sole focus had been on saving Hyuga Fū, leaving no time for looting.
He didn't spare Daitu lying on the ground either.
After collecting everything, he set the entire stronghold ablaze.
Only then did he follow Hyuga Fū, walking slowly towards Konoha Village.
Along the way, Hyuga Fū, wanting to make use of the time,
proceeded to teach Hyuga Aokawa some common knowledge about setting traps, hiding, and tracking on the spot.