The sharp whistle of steel cutting through the air from behind didn't make Yuu's expression shift even a fraction.
If anything, in Yakumaru's eyes… the corner of Yuu's mouth lifted into a faint, almost mocking curve.
"Eight Trigrams Palm… Rotation!"
Blue chakra burst from Yuu's tenketsu all across his body. As he spun, it formed a hemispherical chakra dome around him.
Ding—ding—ding—
Every shuriken was deflected, ricocheting away like they'd struck an iron wall.
But Yakumaru was too close.
Rotation's chakra stream clipped him as well, forcing him to raise both arms and brace through the impact.
"Rotation?! Isn't that a Main House technique?" a shinobi blurted, startled.
Another, mind already sprinting ahead, muttered, "Didn't people say a Hyuga Main House elder died recently…? Could it be—"
Near the Fourth Hokage, a short ANBU with silver hair appeared, silently requesting instruction.
Minato shook his head, voice calm.
"He figured it out himself. When the Hyuga Fourth Elder died, nothing from his home was stolen."
Then Minato paused and turned slightly toward Kakashi.
"Kakashi… he's like you—he's talented. No."
Minato's tone shifted, gentler but firmer.
"He's strong."
"Born without freedom. Lost comrades on the battlefield. And he still didn't stop."
"That Rotation was shown to me on purpose. He's telling me he wants to change his fate."
"Kakashi… I want you to grow strong like that too."
"Not in power," Minato said quietly, "but in heart."
Because shinobi… always lost things.
The ANBU said nothing.
Minato only sighed inwardly.
Hiruzen had paired Kakashi with Obito for a reason—Obito's warmth had saved Kakashi.
And Obito had paid for it with his life.
As a teacher, as the fastest shinobi alive…
Minato had still been too late.
Please pull yourself back together, he thought. Kakashi.
In the arena, Yakumaru's response to the unexpected Rotation was proof of his combat instincts.
He twisted his stance mid-impact, forearms raised, letting the clash itself shove him backward—using the collision to widen distance instead of getting crushed head-on.
"Fast reaction," Yuu said, Byakugan tracking the tremor running through Yakumaru's arms.
An Eight Trigrams diagram seemed to settle under Yuu's feet as if the space itself acknowledged his footing.
"Want to keep going?" Yuu asked calmly. "With those hands, your Fire Style and your Uchiha throwing tricks won't be as clean anymore."
"I told you—don't look down on me!"
Yakumaru ignored the swelling, reddened arms and demanded through clenched teeth, "How did you know? I'm sure you noticed before the shuriken even flew!"
Yuu's lips curved slightly.
"Didn't you already answer that yourself?"
"The Mist battlefield."
"Uchiha throwing techniques were a lot more useful there than Fire Style."
Yakumaru went still.
…He'd seen it. Of course he'd seen it.
The Uchiha were like that. Every clan was.
People mocked the Hyuga as old-fashioned, passing down Gentle Fist generation after generation—but what clan didn't do the same?
Ino–Shika–Chō did. The Uchiha did too.
Fire Style. Uchiha Shurikenjutsu. Genjutsu built on the Sharingan.
Most Uchiha learned those three.
The difference was that the Uchiha inheritance was simply stronger—and at the core of that was the Sharingan.
At the edge of the arena, Yamashiro Aoba continued explaining in a low voice, and more candidates found themselves listening without meaning to.
"Fire Style is flashy," he said. "If the gap isn't overwhelming, it can be dodged or countered."
"So some shinobi compensate by pouring in more chakra to increase size and power—like Great Fire Annihilation, a B-rank technique that can become massive with enough chakra."
"Others hide it," Aoba continued, "like Asuma's Ash Pile Burning—you spread ash and smoke first, then ignite it. If the enemy doesn't catch on, they're already trapped."
Then he tapped his glasses lightly.
"But the Uchiha are different—because they have the Sharingan."
"If you land genjutsu, Fire Style hits no matter what. That's why people say the Uchiha are Konoha's—maybe the shinobi world's—top Fire Style users."
Not just because of power.
Because of hit rate.
"And throwing techniques," Aoba added, "are built on the Sharingan's dynamic vision. They give the Uchiha tactical variety."
He glanced toward the arena—Yakumaru struggling to hold on, Yuu still controlled.
"Sharingan genjutsu is hard to break. Fighting an Uchiha while 'not looking at their upper body' is basically impossible."
"But once that advantage is removed…" Aoba exhaled. "An Uchiha's effectiveness drops sharply."
He nodded toward Yuu.
"They're both tokubetsu jōnin. The raw difference shouldn't be huge."
"But the moment Yuu closed his eyes…"
"Yakumaru already lost."
It was information asymmetry.
Yakumaru knew only that Yuu was Branch House. He didn't know Yuu's real level, his technique depth, his ability to adapt.
Yuu didn't know Yakumaru personally either—but Yakumaru was a village-stationed tokubetsu jōnin.
His ceiling wasn't going to be above experienced Uchiha jōnin Yuu had already faced on the Mist front.
Just by analogy alone, Yuu could predict most of what Yakumaru would do.
Back in the arena, Yakumaru fired off another technique—Dragon Flame Jutsu, the wire-guided flame roaring in.
Yuu met it with Rotation again, dispersing the heat and pressure into the dome.
Yakumaru's breathing turned ragged. Sweat streaked down his face as he dropped to one knee.
Yuu watched him—then spoke, surprisingly even.
"You don't have to force it."
"Our result doesn't prove anything."
"The Sharingan has plenty of advantages the Byakugan doesn't."
"The Copy Eye lets Uchiha learn ninjutsu and taijutsu quickly. Its offense is far beyond the Byakugan's."
And the moment the Sharingan awakened, the boost to base combat ability was enormous.
An Uchiha who steadily matured into three-tomoe didn't just gain perception—many of their fundamentals rose above ordinary chūnin, easily reaching tokubetsu jōnin territory.
Yuu's voice softened slightly, almost like he was thinking aloud.
"Our Byakugan… in the end, leans more toward support."
And yet it was funny.
The evolved forms of these dōjutsu almost swapped personalities.
The Rinnegan's abilities often leaned toward technique and "utility," while the Tenseigan's power was brutally offensive—like a leap straight to the heavens.
Rinnegan becoming "Byakugan-like," Tenseigan becoming "Sharingan-like"…
A strange reversal.
Yakumaru slammed a fist into the ground.
"Damn it!"
He looked up at Yuu, fury and humiliation twisting together.
"I concede!"
"But don't get smug. I'll learn and develop genjutsu that doesn't rely on eye contact."
"One day, I'll challenge you again!"
And next time—he'd wipe that calm, indifferent look off Yuu's face.
Yakumaru stood, reluctant but disciplined enough to follow procedure, and formed the Seal of Reconciliation with Yuu.
The examiner appeared at once and declared, "Hyuga Yuu wins!"
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