Kakashi was horrified to discover that his premonition had actually come true.
Arcs of lightning danced across Hinata's body, and a thin layer of Lightning Release Chakra enveloped her entirely.
Even though that layer looked like it would break with a single poke, Kakashi knew better. This was clearly the prototype of Jie's Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
"She even learned this kind of jutsu?"
"What an absolute genius!"
"But can the Hyuga clan also learn elemental jutsu?"
Even as he praised her, a trace of doubt rose in Kakashi's mind.
Seeing that thin cloak of Lightning Release Chakra on Hinata, Jie nodded in satisfaction.
His five years of careful teaching hadn't been in vain. She had finally mastered the basics of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
In truth, people in the ninja world had always held a misconception about the Hyuga clan. They believed the Hyuga only knew how to use the Gentle Fist, had no understanding of other jutsu, and couldn't learn or use them.
But the reality was that no one was born with attributeless chakra, and the Hyuga clan was no exception.
Just like Hinata. After testing her with chakra induction paper, Jie discovered she naturally possessed both Lightning and Fire dual-attribute chakra. She was perfectly suited to learn his two most powerful types of jutsu.
Moreover, Jie hadn't been afraid of rushing her progress. He had handed her the body-forging secret techniques and the Lightning Release Chakra Mode right from the start.
And now, after five years of grueling training, Jie was finally seeing the results.
Of course, it was more than just that. Jie knew the Hyuga clan couldn't just train in Jutsu...their mastery of it would eventually be far superior to ordinary ninja clans.
After all, a clan capable of proficiently using Gentle Fist Nintaijutsu wouldn't have worse jutsu talent than ordinary ninjas.
In fact, because of the Byakugan, ninjas of the Hyuga clan naturally had stronger chakra control than other clans. Learning jutsu yielded twice the result with half the effort.
It was just that the Hyuga clan looked down on jutsu.
Over thousands of years of evolution, the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist had become capable of both offense and defense, perfectly matching their Byakugan. As long as a clan member possessed a certain level of talent, their ultimate achievements would definitely not be low.
Owning the Gentle Fist immediately raised the entire clan's baseline. Therefore, possessing the martial art most suitable for the Byakugan, the Hyuga clan simply disdained learning jutsu like other ninja clans.
After all, the versatile Gentle Fist was the best Nintaijutsu for them. But their success and failure both lay with the Gentle Fist. While it raised their baseline, it also completely restricted their upper limits. Or rather, time had constrained the Hyuga clan's potential.
Ultimately, the Hyuga clan was also a branch family of the Otsutsuki clan on the moon. It was just that during their long lineage, the Hyuga bloodline had gradually become diluted.
Those powerful Gentle Fist moves recorded in the past, such as the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, had vanished from the clan's inheritance.
Without their ultimate techniques, and stubbornly clinging to the Gentle Fist without a willingness to innovate, the Hyuga clan could only stick to the old ways generation after generation. To this day, they couldn't even produce a Kage-level powerhouse.
However, Jie figured that once Hinata made a name for herself, the Hyuga clan would likely undergo a wave of change. By then, they might finally be able to unleash the true potential of the Byakugan.
As for the Tailed Beast Cloak on Naruto, it wasn't entirely just for show either. The chakra was genuine Nine-Tails chakra.
After all, with Jie frequently dropping by for a "heart-to-heart" with the Nine-Tails, the beast was now as obedient as a kitten toward him.
Furthermore, with Jie acting as the middleman, the Nine-Tails was no longer as resistant to Naruto and had already established a preliminary connection with him.
However, Naruto was currently too young and his physique too weak to completely resist the negative emotions embedded within that massive chakra.
Ultimately, the Nine-Tails chakra Naruto used was different from Jie's. The Nine-Tails chakra Jie possessed was an unconscious reward from the 'System', incredibly docile.
For Jie, it offered only benefits without the slightest pressure. But Naruto was different. The complete Nine-Tails resided in his body, and the intense malice within its chakra was something even the Nine-Tails itself couldn't fully control.
Therefore, hindered by Jie's commands, the Nine-Tails could only try its best to suppress the effects of its chakra to reduce its negative influence on Naruto.
So, although he possessed a layer of the Tailed Beast Cloak, Naruto's strength peaked at being a special jonin who couldn't fully control his own power.
As for Sasuke, there was even less to talk about.
Although he had already awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, he faced the exact same problem... his physique was too weak. He couldn't unleash the true power of the three-tomoe Sharingan at all.
Similarly, he merely possessed the strength of a special jonin.
Because of this, no matter how hard Naruto and Sasuke worked, they couldn't shake Hinata's position as the top student.
After all, Hinata's Lightning Release Chakra Mode was something she had cultivated bit by bit herself. Her mastery over it was flawless.
Her actual strength was far beyond what half-baked reliance on external forces like Naruto and Sasuke could ever compare to.
Jie's own strength was already well-established. With his broadened horizons and frequent interactions with them, he could see the exact depths of Sasuke and the others at a single glance.
But Kakashi was currently in a dilemma.
The imposing aura of the three little ones was right in front of him, and he had no idea that the Tailed Beast Cloak and the three-tomoe Sharingan were mostly just for show.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Naruto wove signs at the blazing speed of one sign per second. With the help of the Nine-Tails chakra, a massive gust of wind surged from his mouth.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke wasn't idle either. His hands blurred rapidly, and a massive fireball erupted from his mouth.
The fire fed on the wind, and the flames instantly surged toward the sky.
Right then, Hinata's eyes noticed an anomaly. With a sharp shout, she thrust a palm strike behind her.
"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!"
"What?"
"When did he get behind us?"
Seeing Hinata's sudden movement, Naruto and Sasuke whipped their heads around, completely ignoring the Kakashi on the roof beam.
In the empty space Hinata struck, Kakashi's figure abruptly appeared. He scrambled to evade the sharp wind of her palm strike.
Meanwhile, with a soft 'poof' and a puff of white smoke, the Kakashi on the roof transformed into a wooden log, burning to a crisp in the sea of fire.
'Discovered by the Byakugan again?'
A heavy expression crossed Kakashi's face. It seemed he wouldn't be able to lay a hand on the other two without dealing with Hinata's Byakugan first.
But then, Kakashi suddenly realized something... this wasn't an actual mission. Wasn't this just a simple graduation exam?
Looking at their strength, the three little ones had clearly reached the standard for graduation. Announcing their passing now wouldn't be considered letting them off easy, right?
Just as the thought of ending the exam rose in Kakashi's mind, Jie sharply discerned his intentions.
Looking at Kakashi on the training ground, Jie wore a teasing smile.
"Kakashi, getting a bell snatched from you counts as an S-Rank mission."
Kakashi froze. "!!!"
There was no other way. If he wanted to slack off later, he had to figure out how to deal with these three little terrors in front of him.