Chapter 41: The Genius's World
Hyuga Kiyonari stood drenched in sweat at the clearing's center, assuming Gentle Fist's opening stance. This posture looked almost identical to Hyuga Neji's demonstration from the outside.
Next, he suddenly stepped forward, his right palm shooting out like an arrow, striking directly at Neji's chest.
Slap!
Neji's left hand remained behind his back. His right hand extended to catch Kiyonari's palm.
Then Kiyonari attempted another attack. But regardless, Neji saw his every movement clearly, using only one hand to catch everything with ease.
Battle ended. Kiyonari shook his head while panting. "No good. Your movements are always one step faster. I clearly know I should change techniques, but I'm still half a beat slow."
"Because your exertion method is wrong," Neji extended his right hand, mimicking Kiyonari's earlier attack. "Watch carefully."
Then Neji's palm slowly pushed forward—very slowly, slow enough for Kiyonari to see every detail. But this slow movement made Kiyonari feel invisible compression, as if air itself was being squeezed aside.
"Watch my arm carefully." Neji continued pushing his palm forward. "Arm muscles are relaxed. What truly exerts force is here..."
He stopped, using his left hand to tap his elbow position.
"Elbow?"
Kiyonari froze, incredulous. The answer was actually this simple.
"Exactly," Neji withdrew his palm, explaining. "Gentle Fist doesn't excessively pursue each attack's power but must leave sufficient room for technique changes. Therefore, when straight punches exert force, it's not using the arm to swing the fist, but using the elbow to push it out."
"Gentle Fist's essence lies in flexibility. Rigid muscles make you sluggish. Even if you can see enemies' movements clearly, predicting their next move, you can't adjust in time."
He spoke, suddenly stepping forward, his right palm lightly pressing against Kiyonari's chest.
"This way, you can achieve the same effect with less force while leaving room for technique changes."
Before Kiyonari could react, he felt a gentle yet irresistible force transmit from his chest. His entire body involuntarily retreated several steps before barely stabilizing.
"Try again."
Neji stepped back several paces, opening distance, signaling Kiyonari to continue attacking.
Kiyonari took a deep breath, adjusting his posture, assuming Gentle Fist's opening stance again. Eyes locked on Neji, both palms extended.
However, Neji also extended both hands, responding with Eight Trigrams Two Palms.
The two exchanged palm strikes in midair, then withdrew... next came Eight Trigrams Four... wait!
Kiyonari's eyes widened sharply.
After using Eight Trigrams Two Palms, Neji's form shifted slightly. He actually jumped straight to Eight Trigrams Eight Palms, both palms becoming afterimages, as if four hands simultaneously extended toward him.
This was... Eight Trigrams Eight Palms!
This sudden technique change far exceeded Kiyonari's expectations. Facing the fierce palm shadows sweeping toward him, he had no time to contemplate corresponding Gentle Fist techniques. In desperation, bodily instinct took over. He sank his waist and anchored his stance, his right arm whipping out like a whip.
The clenched fist didn't rely entirely on arm muscle brute force. After passing the initial stage, it switched to using the elbow as the exertion point, pushing the entire fist forward at greater speed.
BAM!
This hasty yet precise straight punch actually forcibly interrupted Neji's Eight Trigrams Eight Palms offensive, compelling him to withdraw his palms and retreat temporarily, avoiding the attack.
However, Neji rarely offered praise. "Very good. Your combat talent is quite decent."
"This works?"
Kiyonari felt somewhat confused. That strike was completely instinctive reaction after his brain had given up thinking.
Could abandoning the brain be combat's key?
"That's enough." Neji nodded.
"We just discussed it. Whether Gentle Fist or Byakugan, the Hyuga clan's combat essence is making people unable to see through your movements while you can see through theirs."
"As long as this condition is met, what does it matter if you mix Strong Fist into Gentle Fist? The only drawback is certain main family people will scold you for being 'disrespectful' and 'breaking rules.'"
"Take Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms as example. Most Hyuga clan members think this combo technique must be executed in one breath. Always thinking about how to connect Four Palms after Two Palms, Eight Palms after Four Palms. Hinata is like this—too focused on the technique itself."
"Ultimately, Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms is just the fastest method previous generations developed for striking all sixty-four major pressure points. When fighting opponents who understand Gentle Fist, switching up the pressure point sequence can always have some unexpected effects. Even executing it backwards works."
Hyuga Kiyonari: Six-six-six. Not even pretending anymore.
This is the genius's world?
When others couldn't even execute Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms smoothly, Neji was already contemplating how to improve techniques.
When others were still arduously practicing fundamentals, Neji had already self-taught the Hyuga clan's supreme secret—Rotation.
When others still followed tradition, Neji had already self-created Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms.
This gap truly couldn't be bridged through effort.
Kiyonari suddenly recalled another person—Uchiha Sasuke.
To master Fireball Jutsu, Sasuke had expended tremendous effort. He'd practiced arduously for several days—from dawn to dusk, endlessly practicing hand seals, condensing chakra, exhaling flames. The skin on his face had been burned by flame heat.
But Uchiha Itachi?
He'd only watched their father Uchiha Fugaku demonstrate once before perfectly replicating it.
In ordinary eyes, Sasuke was already a genius.
But in his own view, only existences like Itachi deserved the word "genius."
The gap between people—sometimes it really was greater than between people and dogs. The Inuzuka clan could even merge with dogs. Could you merge with geniuses to glimpse their world?
Wait!
Hyuga Kiyonari narrowed his eyes slightly. I seem to... actually can!
After bidding farewell to Neji, he shut himself in his room, beginning to examine his most lacking abilities.
Combat instinct? Tactical thinking? Or... comprehension ability?
Several minutes later, he added a small setting to the "Hyuga Kiyonari" character in the script, consuming only thirty correction points.
The instant correction points paid successfully, Kiyonari immediately felt a strange clarity surge through his mind, as if dispersing fog before his eyes.
He retrieved an arrow from under the bed, attempting to mobilize chakra. Light blue chakra radiance flowed from hand pressure points, rapidly spreading to cover the entire arrowhead. However, the moment his fingers loosened, chakra on the arrow dissipated instantly like water without a source.
Kiyonari gazed at the arrow, Gentle Fist principles revolving through his mind. "Gentle Fist's essence lies in injecting one's own chakra into the body through enemy pressure points. As long as injection succeeds, internal organ damage occurs. Pressure point strikes mainly block chakra pathway system circulation, impeding enemy movement, creating opportunities for subsequent attacks. But what if... the first strike is the decisive strike..."
Thinking this, his thoughts suddenly cleared.
"If I replace this arrow with chakra metal, could it maintain injected chakra even after leaving the bowstring?"
This idea extended to more possibilities.
"If so, what about replacing arrows with other things? Small, difficult-to-perceive needles? Or faster, harder-to-avoid bullets?"
But new problems arose.
"But then production costs become an issue. If I can't achieve fire coverage, what's the point of firearms? Ordinary firearms, before forming sufficient scale, can hardly cause effective damage to ninja."
"Wait, am I going off-topic?"
"Ugh, so annoying..."
He muttered, scratching his hair before walking to the desk to record all these thoughts.
Sigh, too much inspiration is also a kind of trouble.
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