"Hinata, were you just..."
"Practicing martial arts and channeling natural energy," Hinata replied.
Hiashi was even more shocked. He himself hadn't successfully stepped into that realm, yet Hinata had already mastered it independently without assistance?
Actually, Kaguya had shared with Hinata part of the experience gained from Tsunade's cultivation of Sage Art, and Hinata was now testing it out.
As soon as she finished speaking, Kaguya's voice echoed in Hinata's mind, "Hinata, tomorrow at the Academy, try using Sage Chakra on others."
Trying to appear calm, Hiashi expressed his approval, "Not bad."
After thinking for a moment, Hiashi asked, "Hinata, so you've already achieved the 1:1:1 balance between Natural Energy, energy of spirit, and energy of body?"
Hinata nodded.
Then Hiashi asked her to demonstrate a technique infused with Sage Chakra against him directly.
After all, he knew Natural Energy was powerful, but he wasn't clear about its specific effects since Tsunade hadn't fully explained it to him.
Bracing himself and lowering his guard, Hiashi watched as Hinata, with an apologetic expression, extended her fingers and touched a vital point on his body.
This [Point Striking] technique involved using one's Chakra to block a vital point in another's tenketsu network.
Hiashi, head of the Hyuga clan, understood this well. While sensing the changes in his body, he activated his Byakugan to observe himself internally, his brows gradually knitting together.
"Hinata, are you sure you used Sage Chakra? I don't feel any difference," he questioned.
Hinata pursed her lips slightly, a faint smile playing on her face. "Father, why don't you try to unseal your tenketsu point yourself?"
Slightly confused, Hiashi began attempting self-release techniques.
These family secrets were difficult for outsiders to handle, but for someone thoroughly familiar with them like him, there were naturally effective methods.
However, this time, the blocked point showed absolutely no sign of loosening.
Looking at Hinata in bewilderment, he found her gazing back calmly — with quiet confidence.
As if understanding something, Hiashi didn't ask why it couldn't be released, instead asking, "How long before it unlocks automatically? Two or three hours?"
This was usually how long points remained sealed when no one actively helped release them according to traditional Hyuga techniques, hence his question.
"It's longer than that. The duration of Sage Chakra lasts much longer."
"Alright," Hiashi nodded thoughtfully, his face becoming serious as he struck a battle-ready stance. "Try other techniques then."
But Hinata shook her head, "Right now I can only use such minor techniques with Sage Chakra. For others, I'd have to achieve complete Sage Transformation."
"Sage Transformation?" Hiashi looked puzzled again.
Hinata gave a brief explanation, "Maintaining Sage Chakra for extended periods allows you to deploy its power instantly at any time... as needed."
The following afternoon during the hands-on training session,
At the training ground, two figures formed the [sign of peace] while other students sat encircling them, watching intently.
Iruka announced, "...The winner is Hinata Hyuga. And now, the next match will begin..."
Hinata glanced at her defeated opponent before raising a hand to cut Iruka off. "Wait, Teacher Iruka, may I choose my own opponent?"
"Certainly you mean you want to fight another round?" Iruka asked in surprise.
Hinata nodded calmly.
Iruka looked around at the confused students, who remained silent without objection.
It wasn't unreasonable, so he gave his okay. "Fine. Who do you choose?"
"That one." Hinata pointed toward Shikamaru in the crowd.
Shikamaru was clearly caught off guard, and now wore a reluctant expression as he scratched his head and muttered, "Why me? Everyone knows she's the strongest here—what's the point of doing this..."
Shino, Kiba, Sakura Haruno, Choji, Ino, Kimimaro, Karin, and others all turned to look at him.
Especially those from noble families couldn't help but imagine—
Is the Hyuga Clan going after the Nara next?
After brushing dust from himself, Shikamaru stood up with a sigh, ready to just surrender.
Pride didn't matter anyway—he'd just end up regretting it later. Too troublesome.
But just as he lifted his hand, his close friends Choji and Ino immediately understood his intention.
Ino grinned playfully, suddenly jumped up, and kicked him straight into the center of the training area.
"Shikamaru, boys shouldn't look so down!"
He was at a loss for words.
"Well... whatever..."
Still planning to give up, he hadn't even finished speaking when a barely visible wave of air slammed toward him.
[Empty Palm]
Shikamaru barely dodged.
Hinata withdrew her hand calmly.
Though puzzled by her sudden aggressiveness, Shikamaru quietly noted the positions of the surrounding trees, already forming a plan.
His Shadow Mimicry Jutsu wasn't yet perfected—it could extend only so far.
[Empty Palm]
This time, Shikamaru took the full hit and fell backward involuntarily.
The other students watched in stunned silence.
Since when did Hinata become so aggressive?
"Shikamaru..." Ino murmured worriedly.
Slowly getting back to his feet, Shikamaru's eyes now showed irritation.
"I—"
Before he could finish, Hinata had already Body Flickered beside him and tapped his arm.
An unusual chakra flowed into his body, making Shikamaru suddenly stiffen.
He discovered he could no longer manipulate his chakra.
"...Surrender." Only then did he complete what he wanted to say.
Hinata made no further moves.
"Both of you form the peace sign," Iruka stepped between them. "The winner is Hinata Hyuga. Let the next round begin..."
Shikamaru shot Hinata one long, puzzled look before heading back to the group.
"Are you okay, Shikamaru?" Choji asked anxiously.
"I'm fine."
Shikamaru rubbed his aching chest and gave a bitter smile.
He glanced at Hinata, who stood there with an air of innocence, as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and slowly walked toward her. "Hinata, you seemed to forget one thing just now—I still haven't had my pressure points released."
Without even glancing at him, Hinata merely shook her head slightly.
Frustration began to mount inside Shikamaru, but he could only awkwardly walk away.
By the time school was nearly over, the pressure points on his body still showed no sign of loosening, which made him very uncomfortable.
[Note: Given current conditions, this platform may close at any time. Please migrate to Huanyuan App for uninterrupted access.]
How long is this going to last? Without access to chakra, how can I practice ninjutsu tonight?
With his current abilities, there was no way he could break through the blocked pressure points himself.
He looked at Choji and Ino, who were lingering nearby, clearly concerned, wanting them to go ask Hinata about it.
However, no matter who approached her with the question, Hinata always responded like she hadn't even heard.
"Shikamaru, what if we find some upperclassmen to help, or go to the hospital to find other Hyuga clan members…" Ino suggested.
She somewhat suspected that Hinata was deliberately targeting Shikamaru, although she couldn't imagine why lazybones Shikamaru would go out of his way to offend Hinata.
Shikamaru remained expressionless, offering no response. As soon as the dismissal bell rang, he stormed off, heading straight home.
Hinata gazed silently at his departing back for quite a while before letting out a soft sigh.
Back at home, Shikamaru felt miserable. He couldn't figure out why Hinata had suddenly done something like this.
It was nearly dinner time when Shikaku also returned home. Scratching his head, Shikamaru told Shikaku everything that had happened at school.
After listening carefully, Shikaku began brainstorming.
He also found Hinata's behavior quite unusual.
In Shikaku's view, the Hyuga Clan's stance basically equaled that of the Hokage himself.
Besides, Hinata was the clan heir, so her actions deserved deeper consideration.
"Could this be a warning meant for our Nara Clan?" Shikaku mused inwardly.
This made him uneasy—had their family done something to anger Lord Hokage?
Was it related to the Sarutobi Clan?
But ever since the Third Hokage stepped down, they hadn't reached out to the Sarutobi Clan at all.
As for other matters, they had always been cautious and careful.
Puzzled, Shikaku kept shifting his expression as thoughts raced through his mind.
Shikamaru let out an inexplicable sigh, interrupting his father's train of thought.
"Dad, do you know approximately how long it takes for the Hyuga point-striking technique to wear off naturally?"
"Not yet undone?" Shikaku looked at his son in astonishment.
"Nope." Shikamaru replied with a troubled shake of his head.
"Approximately how long has it been?" Shikaku continued questioning.
"Almost four hours, I think." Shikamaru recalled.
Furrowing his brows, Shikaku realized something might truly be wrong.
The meal unfinished, both father and son set out toward the Hyuga residence.
Due to their special status, the Hyuga clansmen did not stop them, but instead led them directly to Hiashi's home.
At this time, the Hyuga family was having dinner.
Seeing Shikaku, Hiashi felt a little surprised. He had someone fetch several cushions and cheerfully said, "Shikaku, come join us for a few drinks!"
"Sure thing," Shikaku replied casually as he sat down. After a couple cups of alcohol, he brought up the fight between Shikamaru and Hinata at the Academy.
"Hinata probably just forgot because she wanted to go home quickly. Our boy can be quite mischievous..."
Beside them, Shikamaru gave an unimpressed smirk without saying anything.
Hinata held her porcelain bowl silently as she ate, showing no intention of interrupting.
Everyone else at the table stayed quiet too.
Upon hearing Shikaku mention that he himself had been paralyzed by Hinata's technique and still hadn't recovered, Hiashi looked at Hinata in surprise and couldn't help asking, "Hinata, did you use Sage Chakra?"
"Uh-huh!" Hinata nodded enthusiastically while putting down her bowl, her cheeks puffed out cutely.
"Well then, release him now," Hiashi let out a sigh. Turning toward the puzzled Shikaku, he explained, "This is Hinata's special technique. Even I can't undo it - only she can."
"In fact, those chakra points will naturally dissipate after a while anyway," Hinata said as she released Shikamaru from the technique nonetheless.
After chatting naturally with Hiashi for a while longer, father and son Shikaku and Shikamaru left the Hyuga Clan compound.
"Sage Chakra..." Shikaku muttered to himself.
"That's what Hokage-sama distributed during the Academy program, Dad. I told you about it previously," Shikamaru responded.
After a long silence, Shikaku finally reached a conclusion.
"I understand now. Hokage-sama is giving us a small lesson."
"Huh?" Shikamaru looked up at his father with a confused expression.
Shikaku continued, "It's obvious what Hokage-sama meant - we're supposed to prioritize natural energy training, but we still placed our clan secret techniques first. Hokage-sama must be dissatisfied with our going through the motions..."
With that, Shikaku let out a long sigh, having already completed his own mental narrative.
Shikamaru fell silent for a bit too before asking, "Dad, then what should we do?"
"Exactly like Hinata did, of course. There's no reason why something she can learn would be impossible for you. Our Shikamaru isn't bad either," Shikaku said as he patted his son's head.
"And besides, I'm curious to see how this 'Sage Chakra' might influence our clan's secret techniques..."
Shikamaru looked speechless, sensing more training coming his way...
The next day, just as Hiashi had done previously, Shikaku actively approached Tsunade, requesting one of those Sage Art manuals she'd distributed during the Ninja Academy program.
Why was Shikaku suddenly so proactive?
Internally confused yet outwardly expressionless, Tsunade mechanically handed him a booklet as if fulfilling a routine task.
"Hokage-sama, this should only be material for children's classes. We adults should have access to more advanced content, right...?"
Tsunade felt a headache forming. Why was everyone suddenly so sharp-witted?
"Master these basics first. It needs to be step by step," she replied rather impatiently.
Actually, it was just due to occasional laziness—she hadn't finished writing the complete cultivation process yet.
Upon hearing her explanation, Shikaku had no choice but to take his leave, grumbling silently to himself: The Hokage really does favor the Hyuga clan more. Even Hinata's practical methods for combining with jutsu aren't included here at all...
After he left, Choza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka both came to the Hokage's office afterward, asking for the same manual of senjutsu that Shikaku had requested.
Tsunade wasn't surprised. Even after the Sarutobi Clan fell from power, those three families still clung tightly together.
There's no such thing as a windless wall—soon enough, word spread through Konoha that the leaders of Ino–Shika–Cho were constantly dropping by the Hokage Building.
Later on, the smaller clans of Konoha suddenly seemed to awaken to the opportunity, one after another rushing to Tsunade to request copies of the basic senjutsu introduction manual.
Regardless of whether they had ulterior motives or not, Tsunade handed every requester a foundational cultivation method without hesitation.
...
In the Land of Rivers,
Kabuto Yakushi walked into Orochimaru's laboratory and stood quietly at the side, waiting until Orochimaru appeared slightly less occupied before holding out the item in his hand.
"Lord Orochimaru, this is something currently spreading widely through Konoha..."
Orochimaru took it and flipped through it once, a faint smile creeping onto his face. "Natural Energy... So Tsunade truly intends to share this with others? Could she possibly be aiming to repeat the path of the Sage of Six Paths?"
"Just remember, everything remains balanced. When some gain, others must inevitably lose."
He paused. "Send word to Minato." Then, the expression on his face became increasingly amused.
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