Chp-7: A Battle of Hyuga
Daikichi Fujino took a deep breath, clearing his mind of distractions, and called out the names of two students.
"Koharu Pureko versus Yuto Kamikawa, begin!"
After forming the opposing seals, the two began a fierce battle, their bodies colliding and the metallic clashing of shuriken echoing across the playground.
Fujino nodded slightly. Since most students hadn't yet learned ninjutsu, this stage of combat relied heavily on taijutsu and shuriken throwing. These two students had a solid foundation for civilians.
After a while, Yuto Kamikawa held a kunai to Koharu Pureko's throat.
"Yuto Kamikawa wins."
Fujino nodded and announced the result of the match.
Hyuga Satoru watched quietly from the side, estimating his own strength. By his calculations, his preliminary development of level 1 electromagnetic force should give him the strength of at least a Genin, though he lacked practical experience.
Fujino announced the next match.
"Hyuga Iroha versus Aoki Yamashiro."
There was an uproar among the spectators.
"It's Iroha! Aoki Yamashiro is going to get crushed."
"Of course, Iroha is a true Hyuga ninja, unlike some other subpar individuals."
Aoki Yamashiro, hearing his name, hesitated for a moment but then walked up with a determined expression. He had no hope of defeating Hyuga Iroha, who was considered a second-tier genius in the class, just below Kakashi and Rin Uchiha.
As expected, the moment the battle started, Aoki Yamashiro was utterly overwhelmed. With his Byakugan activated, Hyuga Iroha's attacks were sharp and ruthless. A single palm strike to the chest sent Aoki flying.
"Is that the Gentle Fist? Incredible."
"Yeah! It was so fast I couldn't see it clearly. He defeated him in an instant!"
Struggling to get up, Aoki felt a sharp pain in his chest, and his chakra flow became sluggish and erratic.
"Is this the power of the Gentle Fist?"
He clutched his chest, panting, and looked at Iroha in shock. He knew he would lose, but not this quickly.
"Of course." Iroha, clearly pleased, lifted his head slightly. "The power of the Gentle Fist is undeniable, and not just anyone can master it within the Hyuga clan."
Noticing the underlying meaning in Iroha's words, Satoru scoffed. At this stage, having the Byakugan and Gentle Fist gave Iroha a significant advantage over ordinary ninjas.
However, later on, the limitations of the Gentle Fist and Byakugan would become apparent. Their potential was too limited, unlike the Sharingan, which had higher-level abilities and other bloodline limits with Kage-level potential.
The Gentle Fist was strong but had its limits.
The main problem was the Hyuga clan's rigid adherence to tradition, never innovating or developing new abilities. Despite being a major clan, they couldn't produce a single Kage-level ninja.
This was why Satoru avoided interacting too much with clan ninjas; his path was destined to be different from that of the Hyuga clan.
Fujino called out several more names, and Satoru watched Kakashi's fight. Kakashi defeated his opponent effortlessly with just taijutsu, even more smoothly than Iroha.
As expected of this generation's top genius.
Satoru praised silently. Under Sakumo Hatake's guidance, Kakashi had surpassed his peers by several levels.
"Based on Kakashi's chakra level, mine is about 1.1 Kaka. My vigorous bio-magnetic field gives me a significant chakra advantage."
As Satoru contemplated, a voice broke his thoughts.
"Hyuga Satoru versus Hyuga Iroha!"
Satoru looked up to see Iroha staring coldly at him.
"Wow! It's a battle between two Hyugas. This will be interesting."
"Who do you think will win?"
"Obviously, Iroha! Satoru sleeps in class all the time. I've never seen him take anything seriously. How could he possibly beat Iroha?"
Nearby, Anko anxiously tugged on Satoru's sleeve.
"Hey, Satoru, don't be stubborn. If you can't win, just admit defeat. It's not shameful; getting hurt would be worse."
Satoru glanced at her.
"Do you really have that little faith in me?"
In the crowd, Rin Uchiha's eyes gleamed with interest as she watched Satoru.
The two stepped onto the field and formed the opposing seals.
Iroha looked at Satoru with disdain. "Satoru, I don't think I've ever seen you practice Gentle Fist at the clan's training ground. I'll show you—"
"You'll see," Satoru interrupted.
Iroha's face darkened. "Byakugan, activate!"
The veins around his eyes bulged like worms, and his pure white eyes locked onto Satoru.
"Aren't you going to activate your Byakugan?"
Almost everyone in the Hyuga clan could activate the Byakugan, so Iroha didn't doubt Satoru's ability to do so.
"Not necessary," Satoru shrugged.
"Arrogant!"
Iroha struck with a palm laced with fierce energy.
Satoru easily sidestepped the attack.
"Was that luck?" Iroha frowned.
He struck again, even more forcefully, but was once again dodged by Satoru.
"How are you so fast?"
Iroha was shocked.
Even if he were slow, he could tell that Satoru was dodging purely with physical speed.
"Not bad," Satoru replied.
With his current level of electromagnetic force, Satoru couldn't directly apply electromagnetic propulsion to his body, but he could use electrical currents to stimulate his muscles for rapid contraction, enhancing his speed.
During his daily training, Satoru frequently used electrical currents to maximize muscle contraction for better results. Now, he was applying it in actual combat.
Seeing the severe expression in Iroha's eyes, Satoru knew he had finally gotten his attention. Iroha's earlier disdain had turned into a focused determination.
"Hyuga Satoru, I admit you've surprised me, but now I'll get serious."
"Oh?" Satoru raised an eyebrow.
"Gentle Fist... Eight Trigrams... Thirty-Two Palms!"
Striking a peculiar stance, Iroha's energy surged as he launched a flurry of attacks.
Quickly sidestepping Iroha's attacks, Satoru was slightly surprised. The Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms was a technique usually mastered by Genin. Iroha was indeed a genius, even though he was just a supporting character in the original story.
Considering that Iroha had become a Jonin by the time he met the protagonist in the original story, Satoru had to give him credit. Becoming a Jonin in Konoha was no small feat.
"Impressive," Satoru remarked.
This mild praise felt like an explosion in Iroha's ears, causing his face to flush with anger as he gritted his teeth.
"How dare you mock me!"
Despite his anger, Iroha couldn't do much. Maintaining the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms was already his limit. Once he finished the technique, he'd be exhausted.
After dodging another strike, Satoru sidestepped slightly, his right palm crackling with blue electricity, and struck Iroha's chest with lightning speed.
Blue sparks exploded at the point of contact, accompanied by a loud thud. Iroha's body flew back like a kite with a broken string.
The playground fell silent.
Anko stared in shock.
Rin Uchiha's eyes sparkled with interest.
Daikichi Fujino's mouth dropped open wide enough to swallow an orange.
Iroha struggled to sit up, feeling as if he had been struck by lightning, his muscles twitching uncontrollably.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he glared at Satoru.
"Is this the Gentle Fist?"
"No."
Satoru shrugged.
"It's the Magnetic Storm Fist."