(Meanwhile, in Konoha)
Hinata was walking through the woods alone that morning without her usual jacket on and her forehead protector tied around her forehead. She was performing her routine exercises and warm-ups before doing some jogging. While jogging, rocks suddenly came flying at her fast from multiple directions. Reacting quickly, she ducked and evaded the rocks as they came from behind the trees one after another. She performed this fast paced side-step and dodge dance for the next five minutes before three of her kage bunshin appeared from behind the trees.
Seeing a large body of water, a good source for her water manipulation, Hinata hurried over to it as her clones chased after her. One of the clones ran faster and flipped over Hinata's head, landing in front of Hinata before she began battling with her. As the two of them fought with each other, another clone jumped in in an effort to ambush Hinata.
"Byakugan!" Hinata exclaimed, activating her bloodline limit with the clones doing the same thing. Resuming their battle, Hinata engaged two of her three clones in a fierce Juuken bout, while the third one watched carefully, waiting for the right moment to enter the fight. After another seven minutes, Hinata knocked out and dispelled one of the clones, leaving two left.
The second kage bunshin didn't allow time for Hinata to catch her breath as she continued to fight. Hinata endured several bodily and facial injuries and cuts from her fight so far, even a busted lip which was seeping blood. Through it all, Hinata pushed herself harder to improve. Another minute later, she overpowered and knocked out the second clone before it dispelled.
"Very good, Neesan," the third clone said after doing a henge of Hanabi with her Byakugan activated. "Now you'll face me!"
Hinata gestured for the clone to come at her. Wasting no time, 'Hanabi' charged at Hinata and engaged her in a brutal combat. Neither Hinata nor 'Hanabi' had any intention of showing mercy to the other. 'Hanabi' aimed to shut off Hinata chakra points, but Hinata managed to block all of her attempts.
"Neesan, why do you insist on fighting me when I'm clearly stronger, faster and more adept at Juuken than you? You wouldn't stand a chance against Neji-niisan, and he's considered a prodigy in our clan. I thought that you, being my older sister, would be superior to both myself and Neji-niisan," 'Hanabi' taunted.
Hinata smiled darkly at 'Hanabi' and replied, "In that case, I'll be more serious."
Hinata rushed at 'Hanabi' faster than before, and this time she started landing harsher blows on her one after another. 'Hanabi' endured all of the attacks and pressed on as she increased her speed and strength to match Hinata's. 'Hanabi', as a result, managed to land additional blows against Hinata. This deadly dance continued for another ten minutes when Hinata decided to perform her next attack.
"Kaiten!" Hinata shouted as she spun herself at a super-fast speed until she created a spinning dome around herself, which struck 'Hanabi' and sent her flying off the ground and crashing into a tree. 'Hanabi' vomited blood from her mouth from the impact before falling and hitting the ground. Hinata gradually stopped spinning and when she did, she found that she was now standing inside of a wide crater that formed as a result of her rotation attack.
'Hanabi' coughed up more blood as she laid there on the ground on her back. Hinata approached and stood over her as she looked at the damage done.
"My time is up, Neesan. I used up all of my chakra. You better get yourself cleaned up for your actual spar session with Hanabi. Only this time, make it look like you improved just a bit," 'Hanabi' suggested before puffing out into smoke. Hinata absorbed all of the experience 'Hanabi' and her other clones had, and needless to say, she was pleased with her improvements. Three days ago, she practiced and battled with her three kage bunshin using both Juuken and water manipulation, and her clones did likewise against her. The battle was indeed hard, but she gained a lot from it.
Hinata turned and started to make her way to the hospital for treatment first before heading home. On the way, she found that she was partly limping in her walk while holding her side.
"My clones are starting to develop their own ways of beating me, and I'm the original. Talk about being my own worst enemy," Hinata remarked, feeling painful sores from the brute thrashings her clones were dishing out against her.
(Meanwhile, in Nami no Kuni, at the Bridge)
Ambush and the element of surprise have been renowned as the greatest weapons of all shinobi. Seeking out the weaknesses of their targets and exploiting them was what made their profession so sought after, even though it wasn't considered very honorable by some. Regardless, most accepted the fact that a great ninja could wipe out a thousand fighters and still survive the encounter, and history attested to that time and time again.
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