Hiashi Hyuga could no longer process what he was seeing.
First, it had been the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, a technique that few in the Hyuga Main House could master. Then came the Rotation, a power that should have been impossible for a Branch House member to use.
And now, the Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms.
That was a technique he himself had only recently perfected, and it was currently the strongest Gentle Fist art in the Hyuga clan. The ease with which Neji executed it meant that his skill was already approaching Hiashi's own.
Neji was only twelve years old.
A genius seen once in a century.
A dozen different possibilities flashed through Hiashi's mind before he settled on a course of action. 'I need to speak with him after this match.'
Neji's hands became a blur, his fingertips striking Naruto's body in a rapid succession of dull impacts. *Thup-thup-thup.* Under the relentless assault, Naruto seemed to sway, his eyes closing as if he had finally given up.
"It's over," Hiashi said quietly. As the clan head, he knew the power of the One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms better than anyone. No one could withstand such a technique, let alone defend against it.
Not even Naruto. The Gentle Fist didn't just deal physical damage, it sealed a person's chakra.
Anyone struck by it would lose.
But he was wrong.
The moment Neji's final strike landed, Naruto's eyes snapped open. A layer of boiling, crimson chakra erupted around him, and a single, fiery tail of energy unfurled behind his back. A wave of profoundly menacing chakra swept through the stadium.
"The power of the Nine-Tails..." At the sight of that blazing chakra, even the Third Hokage rose to his feet.
"Hokage-sama, what's happening?" asked Hattori, who was seated beside him. The usual smile was on his face, but it was no longer bright and sunny, it was the sly curve of a fox.
"N-nothing," the Third Hokage stammered, raising a hand dismissively. He didn't seem to notice the change in Hattori's expression.
All of his attention was fixed on Naruto, or more precisely, on the Tailed Beast Cloak wrapped around him.
He had been told that Naruto had gained control over the Nine-Tails chakra, but seeing it firsthand was still a shock. Even with just a single tail manifested, the power radiating from the boy was enough to make him wary.
What neither he nor Danzo knew was that this unsettling power was, by far, the weakest form Naruto had mastered.
The red chakra coating Naruto's body bubbled and hissed like boiling liquid. It was the Demon Fox Cloak, the Nine-Tails unique version of the Tailed Beast Cloak. The chakra was so dense it formed a tangible defense, ordinary attacks wouldn't even leave a scratch.
Naruto's eyes turned a solid, feral red. His canine teeth sharpened into fangs.
A ripple of fear went through the Konoha villagers in the stands. The chakra felt familiar, and it dredged up memories of the terror that had gripped them twelve years ago, the colossal fox that haunted their nightmares.
The villagers and shinobi glared at Naruto, and the malice they already held for him intensified. If that hatred could have manifested as numbers, it would have flashed over their heads in a relentless stream: *+10, +10, +10...*
'This is why I hate this place.'
In this state, Naruto was hyper-sensitive to their hostility. A flash of disgust crossed his face, and the fiery red of his cloak darkened.
A thousand years ago, the Sage of Six Paths, believing the Ten-Tails would bring calamity to the world, split its power into nine distinct beasts. Through his Yin-Yang Release, these nine masses of chakra gained consciousness.
Those were the first Tailed Beasts.
The Sage nurtured them, teaching them to trust and aid humanity. In the beginning, there was nothing inherently evil about them. They were pure chakra made manifest, blank as new paper.
As the one most driven by emotion, the Nine-Tails had truly embraced the Sage's ideals. In truth, they all had.
But while the Sage's wish was a beautiful one, he had underestimated human greed, especially the depravity of those who stood at the peak of power.
For a millennium, the Nine-Tails had believed, had tried, again and again, only to be repaid with war, hatred, and betrayal. Over those thousand years, the nature of its chakra slowly shifted, until the world came to see it as a mass of pure resentment.
But that hatred had always belonged to humans. The Tailed Beasts were merely the vessels.
They had been the purest of beings, but humans had stained them with their own colors. The Tailed Beasts were like mirrors, reflecting the ugliest face of humanity. For every measure of malice directed at them, their chakra gained another shade of evil.
But not everyone felt fear. In the audience, Shinno's eyes gleamed as he stared at Naruto's Demon Fox Cloak, his expression one of pure exhilaration.
Neji, unlike the others, was not shocked. He let out a quiet breath of relief. He had seen this before.
He knew this was Naruto's weakest form, even weaker than his base state. In this mode, Naruto had to constantly hold himself back. If he wasn't careful, one stray punch could blow his own Demon Fox Cloak right off.
'The so-called Nine-Tails: Go-Easy Mode.'
'If I can't even beat this version of him,' Neji thought, 'I'll be facing that 'super doubled training' after the match.' The training boosted your strength at an insane pace, but... 'I have absolutely no desire to go through that again.'
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" Neji thrust his palm forward, sending a shockwave of pure chakra flying at Naruto.
The Vacuum Palm was one of the few long-range techniques in the Gentle Fist style. The Nine-Tails chakra was intensely corrosive and searing, and Neji had no intention of touching it directly.
After the One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms, Hiashi was almost numb to surprise when Neji unleashed the equally difficult Vacuum Palm.
"Move," Naruto growled.
In his one-tail state, he simply swiped an arm through the air, and the chakra shockwave shattered into nothingness.
Neji kept his distance, circling and firing off more shockwaves as he searched for an opening. Annoyed by his evasive tactics, Naruto suddenly sprouted a second tail.
'Two-Tails: Go-Easy Mode.'
Dropping to all fours, Naruto let out a strained and guttural roar. The two tails lashed wildly behind him, making him look like a miniature Nine-Tails.
Watching him, Neji thought dryly:
'Nice one, Naruto. That must be hell on your throat.'
===============
Dear Readers and Fans,
For those eager to dive into next chapters earlier before others, I invite you to join us on Patreon. By becoming our Patron, you not only gain access to exclusive advanced chapters but also help us continue this endeavour and expand it further.
https://www.pat reon.com/8Ashes8
(no space)
You can read upto 7 Chapters in advance.