"...Is that so?"
The light in Hiashi Hyūga's eyes became even more internalized. He said softly, "Then let me, in your father's stead, test your mettle."
As his words finished, he shifted his stance, swung his arm, joined his five fingers, and, condensing chakra, thrust a palm toward Neji's heart, the strike accompanied by a sharp, whistling sound!
"A man like you is unworthy to speak of him!"
Neji's eyes flashed with fierce resolve. He likewise took the opening stance of the Gentle Fist, meeting the attack by parrying and deflecting the force to the side, narrowly redirecting most of the blow's power.
The palm wind grazed his clothes, the resulting force stinging his skin, but simultaneously, his knee rose like a sledgehammer, smashing hard toward Hiashi's abdomen!
Hiashi seemed to have anticipated this. He brought his other hand down, slapping the side of Neji's knee. This not only neutralized the strike but also allowed him to rotate his body, his arm sweeping toward Neji's head!
The rush of wind hit his face. Neji hurriedly raised his arms to cross-block.
Bang!
A heavy thud echoed in the secret chamber. The immense force left Neji's arms numb, and his body involuntarily staggered back several steps.
Before he could stabilize himself, Hiashi's figure was already before him, launching another merciless palm strike that caused Neji's face to change color. He rushed to meet the blow.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two moved in the chamber with blinding speed, their figures intertwining. The sounds of fists and palms colliding were incessant.
Fists, palms, fingers, elbows... every move, every style, went straight for the opponent's vital points and pressure points, displaying the precision and viciousness of the Gentle Fist to the extreme.
Chakra continuously erupted and surged from the collisions, forming visible air currents and ripples that stirred up dust and caused the lamps to flicker wildly, threatening to go out at any moment.
Neji's Byakugan gave him superior insight and reaction speed, but the gap between them was compensated for by Hiashi's rich combat experience.
Boom!
Both men simultaneously struck the other's shoulder with one hand and, almost at the same instant, raised the other hand to tightly grasp the opponent's striking wrist!
Power violently surged through their locked arms. The two once again fell into a stalemate, like two frozen statues, their leg muscles taut as steel, rooted to the ground.
Both their hands were exerting tremendous force, trembling slightly from the power. Veins bulged on their temples and arms as they stared intensely into each other's eyes.
"Is this all you have?" Hiashi sneered. "With just this much, you dare to dream of killing me?"
"How do you think you can overcome the secret technique gap between the Main Family and the Branch Family?"
"As expected, I should have listened to Higo and the others' advice back then—I should never have pitied you out of guilt and let you fend for yourself."
"But it doesn't matter now. As soon as I kill you and leave here, all your accomplices, whoever they are, will die because of you!"
Hearing this, the rage in Neji's heart deepened even further!
A look of ferocity appeared on his face. His body abruptly exerted force, not to break away, but to viciously yank on Hiashi's wrist, pulling his body sharply toward himself!
At the same time, he jerked his head back...
CRASH!!
A sickening, jarring thud erupted!
The two men's foreheads smashed squarely together, their skull bones making a chilling sound.
The bandage wrapped around Hiashi's forehead was instantly stained with seeping blood. His brain rattled, his vision immediately blacked out and became blurry, and his body swayed uncontrollably.
In the instant his consciousness was hazy and his vision had not yet returned, a palm full of furious intent tore through the air and slammed toward him!
Acting purely on instinct, Hiashi subconsciously turned his head!
BANG!!
Neji's palm slammed savagely against the stone wall behind Hiashi. The collision between his palm and the hard rock produced a chilling, sharp crack!
His flesh instantly tore, and blood soaked into the cracks of the wall and streamed down.
Even more terrifyingly, the wall that absorbed the immense force was smashed and cracked, with massive amounts of debris and dust exploding out of the fissures, forming a pervasive cloud of powder!
The sharp, splashing rock fragments sliced across Hiashi's cheek, leaving several bloody trails.
Having missed with the blow, Neji was about to pull his hand from the deeply embedded wall to continue his assault.
But Hiashi, suppressing the dizziness and intense pain in his head, seized this fleeting opportunity. The chakra in his body was abruptly compressed and then exploded in an unprecedented way!
Gentle Fist Art: Body Blow!
An invisible yet powerful wave of energy suddenly released from his body, slamming into the nearby Neji!
Thud!
Neji was violently pushed back by this powerful force, stumbling and crashing heavily into the wall on the opposite side before stopping.
Hiashi forcibly suppressed the dizziness and nausea in his mind. His breathing became somewhat ragged. He raised a hand to wipe away the blood trails left by the stone fragments on his cheek and looked at the retreating Neji in the distance.
Neji's forehead was also cracked, blood streaming out and soaking half his face, turning his white eyes a frightening, bloody red.
He shook the hand that had slammed into the wall. Blood mixed with stone fragments dripped from it as he stared intently at Hiashi's face.
That terrifying force just now had only managed to break his skin.
Hiashi keenly noticed that, besides the blood and wounds, a layer of blue-green, stony shell remained on the back of Neji's hand.
"You've mastered the Earth Release Chakra Nature and Shape Transformation?"
Hiashi's eyes narrowed slightly. He asked, "Do you truly believe that with such methods, you can compensate for the gap between the Main Family and the Branch Family, the gap between you and me?"
"Yes," Neji said calmly. "The Gentle Fist places great importance on fundamentals: footwork, stance, and technique. Adhering strictly to tradition, day in and day out for decades—this is the principle you of the Main Family always preach."
"However, the reason you have the opportunity to call this dedication 'noble' is because you have a way out. Those born on the clouds with broad retreat paths can naturally remain composed; they naturally seem 'noble.'"
"But for us, living precarious lives under the Caged Bird Seal with no way out, decades is too long. Therefore..."
At this point, he adopted a completely different Gentle Fist stance. The aura around him instantly became violent and dangerous, and his tone turned icy. "We seize the day!"
Hearing this, Hiashi slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and shook his head. "As expected, I shouldn't have held any hope for you."
"You, will die here."
As his voice faded, he raised his hand. Chakra flowed at his fingertips—he was clearly forming the hand sign to activate the Caged Bird Seal that controlled Neji's life and death.
CRACK!!
Seeing this, Neji's face was utterly savage. His feet smashed the ground, carving spiderweb cracks into the floor. He shot toward Hiashi like an arrow released from a bow!
All the transformed Earth Release Chakra in his body was, in this moment, unleashed with reckless abandon.
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