"I understand, Hokage-sama."
Yuu nodded in response.
Judging from Minato's familiarity with him, was Yakumaru the Uchiha clan's way of signaling support for Namikaze Minato?
Shisui was still too young and hadn't displayed his talent yet. As for Itachi—that was even further off.
Among the Uchiha currently stationed in Konoha, this tokubetsu jōnin around Yuu's age was probably the most presentable one.
Aside from his name being a little… ominous.
By now, the other shinobi had also noticed the Fourth Hokage's arrival. Some looked excited, others tense, all of them instinctively straightening.
Seeing this, Minato stopped chatting and moved directly to business, announcing the rules with a smile.
Just as Yakumaru had said, this exam was live combat.
After drawing lots, each participant would fight three different opponents, demonstrating their strengths and overall combat ability.
Once Minato finished his explanation, a jōnin examiner stepped forward.
"The first match—Nakayama Yoshihisa versus Shiranui Genma."
As his voice fell, two figures remained in the arena while the rest quickly withdrew to the edges to spectate.
Yakumaru watched the two exchange what he clearly considered a dull fight, then turned with a dark expression and walked over to Yuu.
"Let's go straight to the Hokage and request a match between the two of us."
Yuu looked at him. Yakumaru met his gaze head-on, a flicker of fighting spirit flashing in his eyes.
"There are only four tokubetsu jōnin in this exam," Yakumaru said coldly.
"Compared to the other two, you're the only one worth fighting."
And I get to vent my frustration.
Yuu raised an eyebrow slightly and glanced toward the Fourth Hokage—only to see Minato smiling in their direction.
Understanding dawned.
"No need," Yuu said calmly. "We'll face each other."
With that, he ignored Yakumaru completely, perfectly fitting the image of a taciturn Branch House Hyuga.
Yakumaru followed Yuu's line of sight and noticed Minato watching them. His expression instantly tightened, arrogance giving way to composure.
Today, his goal wasn't merely passing the jōnin exam.
He wanted to enter the Fourth Hokage's field of vision—and join his Shadow Guard.
A Hokage who leaned toward the Uchiha was rare. They couldn't afford to miss any opportunity.
Soon enough, both men were called to fight.
Each completed two matches in quick succession.
Against chūnin-level opponents, neither encountered any real resistance. Both won cleanly.
Then, the remaining tokubetsu jōnin was called into the arena.
Yakumaru immediately understood what Yuu had meant earlier.
Sure enough, once that match ended, the examiner announced loudly:
"Next match—Uchiha Yakumaru versus Hyuga Yuu."
Yakumaru and Yuu flickered into the arena simultaneously.
Whether they were candidates who'd already performed poorly or ones confident in passing, everyone watching felt their curiosity spike.
Hyuga versus Uchiha.
Two dōjutsu clans clashing—no one would not want to see this, even if they were from the same village.
Following procedure, Yuu and Yakumaru formed the Seal of Opposition.
Seeing this, the examiner shouted, "Begin!" and vanished from the field.
Three tomoe spun into existence in Yakumaru's eyes. Bathed in the power of the Uchiha, he looked at Yuu with detached confidence.
"You've seen the Uchiha's strength on the Mist battlefield, right? Now, experience it for your—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Opposite him, Yuu had already closed his eyes.
Only the bulging veins around his temples made it clear—
His Byakugan was active.
Yakumaru froze.
The surrounding shinobi froze.
Even Minato wore a helpless, amused expression.
…So this is allowed too?
While his opponent was stunned, Yuu naturally didn't wait.
He burst forward in a blur, instantly closing the distance. A sharp, orthodox Gentle Fist strike slammed toward Yakumaru's chest—
Bang!
Yakumaru exploded into white smoke.
A shadow clone!
Clang—clang—clang!
Several shuriken collided midair, altering their trajectories, spreading out like a net as they closed in on Yuu from all directions.
From behind, a massive fireball roared forward.
Already aware, Yuu pivoted and struck with Palm Rotation—no, Vacuum Palm, blasting a section of the shuriken net apart and slipping free of both the steel rain and the Great Fireball's range.
Then—he charged straight for Yakumaru's true body.
Seeing his attempt to widen the distance fail, Yakumaru clicked his tongue.
Since his throwing techniques hadn't worked, he had no choice but to engage Yuu in close-quarters combat.
True, Yuu's opening move had startled him.
But his fundamentals were solid enough that he wouldn't freeze up in battle.
Still… that brief hesitation had cost him the initiative.
I have to be careful now.
Glancing at the wire threaded between his fingers, Yakumaru steadied his breathing and focused entirely on evading Yuu's tenketsu strikes.
"So the Byakugan can be used like that…"
At the edge of the arena, Shiranui Genma sighed in amazement.
"Isn't that obvious?" his teammate Ibitachi Raido—no, Ibiki's cousin, Raidō—leaned against the wall and replied.
"The Hyuga are famously low-key. They don't compete, don't provoke."
"Even though they're called one of Konoha's two great noble clans alongside the Uchiha, the two sides hardly ever clash."
"So naturally, we've never seen a Hyuga fight with their eyes closed the whole time."
Raidō sighed again.
"And honestly, we should be worrying about ourselves passing the exam."
"With reactions like that, if it were us in the arena, we'd already be done."
"What's wrong with becoming tokubetsu jōnin and improving slowly?"
Genma chuckled lazily.
"But looking at this… the Sharingan really has no advantage here."
Most of the Byakugan's abilities leaned toward reconnaissance. Its ability to see chakra flow mainly supported the Gentle Fist.
On paper, it didn't boost raw combat power much.
But now, it looked like a natural counter to the Uchiha.
The Sharingan's greatest strength lay in genjutsu—eye contact meant falling into a powerful illusion.
But against Yuu, fighting entirely through the Byakugan's field of vision?
That option was gone.
As for copying ninjutsu or taijutsu—
Did the Hyuga even use ninjutsu?
Genma certainly hadn't seen much beyond Gentle Fist.
And copying Gentle Fist was outright impossible.
That meant Yakumaru's Sharingan was reduced to improved reflexes and enhanced perception.
"There's still one advantage," their last teammate, the bespectacled Yamanaka Aoba—a specialist in memory reading—spoke up, drawing their attention.
"Information."
"Information?"
"Don't underestimate me!"
In the arena, Yakumaru barely avoided another strike, letting his body tilt sideways as a grin spread across his face.
"So what if the Sharingan can't be used?"
His fingers twitched.
Several shuriken—quietly maneuvered into Yuu's blind spot—jerked forward as the wire connecting them snapped tight, arcing straight toward the back of Yuu's head.
The Branch House Byakugan had blind spots.
Yakumaru might be arrogant, but in battle he never ignored intelligence—or an enemy's weakness.
Just as Yuu had unexpectedly sealed away Sharingan genjutsu…
Using information properly—to kill—that was what being a shinobi meant.
At this distance—
You can't dodge.
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