61 Genin (1)

Hinata's palm strike was batted away with a ruthless efficiency epitomized by Hyuuga Hiashi. The attempted attack was countered with Hiashi's own chakra-infused gentle fist that cracked against Hinata's jaw that sent her collapsing to the ground.

The Hyuuga Patriarch stood over the still form of his daughter, his breath not even slightly laboured, and his yukata still as pristine as before the training began.

"Better, but still lacking." He commented. "You have engraved the forms of the Gentle Fist into your heart and have memorized every nuance of our clan's fighting style. But how you apply what you have learnt is still lacking. Precision beats power and timing beats speed every time. If you just throw out your strikes according to the forms and without consideration for how your opponent can and will react to them, you will only demonstrate inflexibility and reveal the pattern in your attacks, inviting counterattacks. Now, get up."

Hinata trembled on the ground before exerting what energy she still had left in her bruised body to pick herself back up. The steel in her gaze hardened as she moved in to the opening stance of the Gentle Fist.

Her father watched her and had to hold back the pride and praise he sincerely felt in his heart. Overt praise would only stroke his daughter's ego, but too little of it would also weaken her confidence.

Watching who he had written off as being hopeless grow stronger, absorbing his lessons like a sponge does water, was humbling yet gratifying. It was little over three years ago when he first witnessed what his daughter was truly capable of when pushed to do so. What heartened him was not her admittedly deficient proficiency in the Gentle Fist, but the courage and decisiveness to use it in times of need.

What was expected of the next Hyuuga clan head was not just martial prowess, but the resolve to fight for their clan when it is required of them. Hinata never had the heart of a warrior. She was too meek; too timid to properly use what she had been taught in battle. It was a disappointment to see that his daughter had not inherited spirit of a fighter he himself possessed, rather it was her younger sister, Hanabi, that did.

Hiashi loved both his daughters; and that was why he had written her off as hopeless in the first place. Because to inherit the authority over the Hyuuga clan required strength, and the backbone to utilize that strength to beat down dissenters. One would be naïve to think that all it took to inherit the mantle of the Hyuuga clan head was just the right lineage and support from the previous head.

The main family and the branch family, while seeming to coexist peacefully on the surface, had a deeply tense relationship in actuality. The branch family outnumbered the main one ten to one, however, the main family is able to keep them under their thumbs due to the existence of the Caged Bird Cursed Seal. That, and the main family's monopoly of the Hyuuga clan's secret techniques.

Yet, despite having these tools that suppressed the branch family's hopes, desires and ambitions, none of them mattered if the head of the clan lacked the resolve to use it. It would take little imagination to think of what could happen if the branch family sensed weakness in the main family - assassination, rebellion, treason. After all, if there were no longer a main family to rule over the branch family, then they would be master-less servants.

And as the leader of the clan and by extension the main family, the clan head's weakness represented the main family's weakness. It wasn't the sterling reputation of the Hyuuga clan Hiashi cared about; it was the continuation of the clan's very existence that required a stern, iron fist to rule over both main and branch families.

It was for both Hinata's sake, as well as the clan itself, that Hiashi first thought of condemning the girl to the branch house and letting her sister take over the leadership position. His first daughter would be able to live a more carefree existence, leading the branch family and guaranteeing the branch family's loyalty for another generation and supporting Hanabi who would inherit the clan head position in her stead. This was an arrangement that would benefit all involved.

It was an unexpected, yet welcome surprise when Hinata took the initiative and stepped up her training after that particular incident in her second year at the academy. It wasn't often Hiashi was taken by surprise, the insight provided by their clan's all-seeing eyes guaranteed so, and by his own daughter no less. His renewed pride in her which subsequently reinforced her own confidence led to a self-perpetuating cycle of improvement for the girl wherein her confidence and skills skyrocketed after stagnating for so long.

Even if she still lacked the killer instincts a powerful and famed shinobi needed to be successful, that could be slowly developed over her career. In the meantime, what Hiashi needed to do was to cultivate her will to wield the weapons she had been given. That is to say, the ability to hurt others when necessary. And to do so, he would beat the timidity out of her if need be.

Hinata wordlessly launched another combo of Gentle Fist attacks, from pokes to palm strikes and the occasional kicks to mix up what she had been told was a predictable offensive pattern.

The Hyuuga patriarch nodded in commendation. She was learning.

As he parried or avoided her blows, he carried on his lessons verbally, "To achieve your desires; to achieve your hopes, dreams, ambition, what do you need? The answer is strength! Only when you are strong enough to sneer and look down at the world, can you walk unimpeded to what you yearn for the most. If you encounter any obstacles, destroy them! When your enemies try to hold you back, destroy them! Speak, Hinata, what do you do when someone blocks your path?"

Hinata narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, going for a palm right at Hiashi's heart before twisting her body in a demonstration of her natural flexibility and changed the trajectory of her strike at the last moment. As her palm approached Hiashi's liver instead, glowing in the telltale blue light of chakra that shined brightly under the chakra sight of the Hyuuga's Byakuugan, she screamed, "Destroy them!"

"Excellent!" Hiashi praised as he smacked away the palm that threatened to implode his organ while simultaneously tripping the girl who had overextended trying to land an unexpected strike.

In the single instant where Hinata was floating in mid-air, right after being swept off her feet by Hiashi, she could swear that she saw just the faintest shadow of a smile at the corner of her father's lips before in a skilful display of aikido he flipped her and threw her to the ground with frightening ease.

Once again, Hinata hit the hardwood floor of the Hyuuga Clan compound's main family dojo hard, the wind knocked out of her lungs, but all in all not injured beyond surface wounds.

"Twisting your body and changing where you were going to hit at the last minute was clever, but it is clear that you were unfamiliar with the move and so your body was unable to keep up with what you had envisioned in your mind. Furthermore, it was painfully obvious what you were trying to do. I could see through your intentions just by reading where your eyes were looking at. Our eyes are pupil-less but the iris can still betray your intentions. The Byakuugan has a 360 degree vision, make use of that so as to not divulge your target to your opponent by not physically looking at where you want to attack."

"You have a natural flexibility in your upper torso and lower limbs, make use of that and continue developing your own style. Remember, the Hyuuga clan's Gentle Fist is not the summit of taijutsu. It is not the best fit for every one of its practitioners, and more often than not, the truly skilled members of the Hyuuga clan develop their own styles by adjusting the Gentle Fist's forms."

Hinata picked herself up, flinching slightly at the dull throbbing pain in her tired body, and bowed in gratitude for her father's lessons. "I have listened well to your pointers, father. Thank you for your instruction."

Hiashi stared wordlessly, appearing as though too proud to acknowledge his daughter's gratitude. "I understand your team is planning to train together later, yes?"

"Yes, father." She answered, though inwardly worried what her father had to say about it. The Aburame and Hyuuga clan had at the very least, cordial relations, so he should approve of Shino. But Shinji, on the other hand, was an orphan. Even if he were the most talented person Hinata had ever encountered and possessed enough charisma in him to charm anyone he encountered, it was possible that Hiashi would look down on his background.

"Hmm… Clean yourself up and go find Haruko to treat your wounds. There are certain standards you, as the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, have to observe, after all." The Hyuuga patriarch stated before turning to walk away, his posture as impeccable as always.

To her surprise, he did not disparage her beloved Shinji-kun as she had expected. Rather, he even instructed her to pay attention to her appearance.

"Y-yes, father!" Hinata called out after her father. Staring at the stoic and imperturbable back of her father, she wondered just what was going through his mind. He was as hard to read as always, and it often took significant effort on her part just attempting to discern his thoughts.

'Could it be that father approves of Shinji-kun? Oh that would be wonderful… he would bless our union and…' Hinata reddened at the thought, before shaking her head clear of the image in her mind and went off to seek medical attention from the Hyuuga clan head's personal physician.

---------

I ducked under a wild swing from Naruto before having to lean back to avoid a palm strike from Hinata. I grabbed the outstretched arm from the Hyuuga heiress and threw the girl at Naruto, causing them both to stumble and fall in a heap. Snickering internally at the cliché 'shounen protagonist landing on his crush' situation I had engineered, I turned to check out the other battle that was going on.

Sasuke was exchanging blows with Shino while Shikamaru skirted around the edge of the exchange, occasionally sneaking in a kick or two to disrupt Sasuke's tempo. The Uchiha performed admirably against the Aburame, deflecting the attempted strikes without much difficulty and landing a couple of his own to boot.

Team Seven and Team Ten was currently participating in one of the regular inter-team training sessions I had organized. We regularly sparred against one another or exchanged training tips to help each other grow; albeit I was the one who was usually imparting what I knew rather than the other way round.

It had been some time since both teams passed their respective jounin tests. Team Ten started on D-ranked missions as well as receiving training from Asuma. I had to hold myself back from cringing when I thought back about the day Asuma had pulled me aside to show me Nature Transformation.

The jounin had pulled out a pair of Chakra Induction Paper that could determine an individual's chakra affinity when their chakra was channelled into them. He explained the whole concept of chakra affinities and Nature Transformation while I listened attentively. Even though I already knew everything he was talking about, it was possible that there were certain subtle nuances that I lacked knowledge of.

Unsurprisingly, the paper had split in two and both halves ignited in flames upon receiving my chakra. Asuma was extremely excited upon learning of the fact. He first conceded that it was exceedingly rare for any person to have more than one elemental affinity. The fact that I had both wind and fire affinities, traditionally conflicting elements, likely suggested that I had shinobi parentage.

I expressed my shock and for a moment I wondered whether it was the brightest idea to display my affinities if it would open up inquiries about my background; but ultimately I concluded that it wasn't the worst thing in the world for people to begin speculating about my parentage, since I would eventually have to reveal my Uchiha lineage some time in the future. It was an inevitable, sooner or later type situation.

Furthermore, only by revealing my chakra affinities could I receive proper instruction from Asuma, the effects of which would be greatly boosted by my title [Asuma's Disciple].

The jounin then boasted that he too possessed a natural wind affinity, which was rare for inhabitants of the Land of Fire, while having mastered both wind and fire Nature Transformation. The man took on a rare contemplative look before subsequently offering to teach me everything he knew about Nature Transformation and their related abilities.

He held such sincerity and eagerness in his eyes that I could hardly reject, not that I would have in the first place. Having an experienced, elite jounin like Asuma guiding the development of my shinobi skills would be immensely rewarding. I guessed that the jounin was greatly enthused about having a talented disciple at the prime of the man's shinobi career to cultivate and impart his hard earned skills.

After I accepted his offer of a mentorship, he started me out on the wind element Nature Transformation exercise which involved moulding wind nature chakra and infusing it into a leaf. Being able to split the leaf in two directly down the middle with no additional cuts indicated the first step towards success, as Asuma had demonstrated.

Initially I was dubious about the effectiveness of such a training method to improve my control of wind nature chakra given my [Natural Wind Affinity] perk. Turns out, I was wrong. My hubris and confidence in the system prevented me from actively testing whether my theory had been right. Just after a few attempts in trying to ignite the leaf, I received a new system notification.

[Through repeated actions, you have created a new skill!]

[Wind Nature Transformation] has been added to your skill page!

[Through advanced chakra manipulation exercise, you have gained +1 INT!]

[Wind Nature Transformation] (Passive) LVL: 1

Increased efficiency in handling wind nature chakra

+15% damage dealt with all wind-related skills

-3% CP cost to all wind-related skills