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Chapter 40: The True Teaching in One Sentence
Throughout the entire shinobi world, ninja capable of mastering medical ninjutsu were extremely rare.
Practicing medical ninjutsu required extremely high chakra control ability. The learning cycle was lengthy. Even with Tsunade—the medical saint herself—Konoha's medical ninja numbers remained scarce. Of course, her years away from the village probably contributed.
But for most shinobi villages, the cost of training one medical ninja wasn't worth it compared to training several combat ninja. Dead ones could be replaced anytime.
If every squad needed a medical ninja, they simply couldn't provide enough.
"The support position in squads doesn't require mastering true medical ninjutsu—only basic skills like stopping bleeding, bandaging, and immobilizing fractures. These things don't need complex medical techniques. With short-term training, anyone can master them."
"Additionally," Tsunade added, "I'll organize a separate mobile medical team. They won't participate in combat—only treat severely wounded."
Indeed, if only requiring this level, feasibility increased dramatically.
"Next, dismissed for repairs! I'll complete squad assignments based on the roster and each person's detailed profile!"
Tsunade waved her hand grandly, announcing dismissal.
Uchiha Shisui felt thoughtful. He understood—the ninja present all held pent-up energy. They'd come to resist the Cloud Village. But he also vaguely sensed Tsunade's plan might differ from their imagination.
Hopefully, clan members would all stay compliant.
"Sigh."
...
Konoha Village.
Hyuga Kiyonari was home pondering Summoning Jutsu when Hyuga Neji suddenly visited.
"Father went to the battlefield. Before leaving, he asked me to ask you... want to learn Gentle Fist?"
Kiyonari nodded without hesitation. "Of course."
"Then we'll go to the training ground—talk while walking." Neji signaled him to hurry up, then asked, "In your view, what is Gentle Fist?"
Kiyonari thought briefly before answering. "Taijutsu can generally be divided into two types. One is Strong Fist, causing direct external damage. The other is Gentle Fist, which damages enemy organs by striking the chakra pathway system."
Neji nodded slightly. Though simple, this answer indeed grasped Gentle Fist's core characteristics.
However, Kiyonari raised a question at this moment. "I'm thinking... since Gentle Fist also requires touching the enemy's body to work, why wouldn't I just use a kunai and directly stab them? Wouldn't that be faster with more direct damage?"
Aside from some ninja who practiced taijutsu, most ninja were merely mortal flesh. One slash—blood and flesh flying, immediately losing combat capability.
By comparison, though Gentle Fist could damage enemy organs and chakra systems, the effects weren't as direct and swift as blades.
"Then let me ask you," Neji raised his hand, countering, "If during battle, your opponent stabs at you with a kunai, would you dodge then counterattack, or trade injuries?"
"Of course dodge." Kiyonari answered without hesitation. "If stabbed by a kunai, even if I could wound the enemy, I'd also be severely injured. This kind of trade isn't cost-effective."
"Good. Now I'll ask you again. If the enemy's kunai becomes two fingers, stabbing at you like this..."
Neji extended his right hand's index and middle fingers, pointing toward Kiyonari's wrist.
"And you're holding a kunai stabbing toward him. Would you choose to dodge, or trade injuries?"
Hearing this, Kiyonari froze.
Modern people and ninja had gone to complete extremes. The former excelled at using brains, dealing with people. The latter excelled at combat, cordially communicating with enemies.
He didn't flaunt his talents but maintained humility, following his heart. "I'd probably choose to trade injuries because I feel I could severely wound the enemy while avoiding fatal damage myself."
Neji nodded. "Exactly. This is Gentle Fist's first key point."
"Gentle Fist's appearance seems minimally threatening. This easily exploits enemies' careless psychology. When enemies face a sharp kunai, they'll instinctively avoid it. When facing a fist or whip kick, they'll prioritize assessing whether they can block. But when facing only your palm or fingers, their vigilance drops significantly."
"This psychology appears because combat's essence is offense. Everyone pursues offense, pursues speed."
"Why does this happen?" Kiyonari asked again.
Neji fell silent before answering. "Because ninja battles are mostly unfair. Genin won't necessarily only encounter genin."
Kiyonari nodded thoughtfully, but quickly discovered another problem. "But when opponents holding kunai decide to trade injuries, aren't I in the same situation?"
Neji slowly raised his hand, using his index finger to tap his temple. "At this time, we use our eyes."
"One of the Byakugan's basic abilities is transparency. It can perceive chakra flow within enemies' bodies, observe chakra pathway distribution, capture signs before muscles exert force. With this information, we can predict opponents' next moves."
As he spoke, he suddenly moved.
Neji abruptly appeared before Kiyonari, his right hand's paired fingers making a stabbing motion. Kiyonari instinctively tried raising his hand to block, but Neji's attack was only a feint. A wrist flick broke through his blocking motion.
Slap!
Neji's palm lightly tapped Kiyonari's shoulder.
"If I'd just used Gentle Fist," Neji withdrew his hand, tone calm, "your shoulder and this arm would have already lost mobility."
"This is the Byakugan's power. I can clearly see chakra flow within your body. When you intend to block, arm muscles instantly tense. Chakra also converges toward the arm. These subtle changes have nowhere to hide before the Byakugan."
"So I can predict your defense direction, thereby choosing the most suitable attack angle."
Kiyonari suddenly understood.
When you could perceive every subtle enemy movement, foreknowing their next action, battle was no longer a contest—it became a game of information asymmetry.
"Now."
Neji folded his arms across his chest. Pride naturally flowed from his heart.
"Back to the earlier question. Since you've already seen through the enemy's next move—stabbing at you with a kunai—do you choose to dodge, or pretend you can't dodge and give the enemy a Gentle Fist strike?"
The answer was obvious.
"I'd pretend I can't dodge." Kiyonari answered with certainty.
The Hyuga clan's battles were psychological warfare. Gentle Fist and Byakugan complemented each other—inseparable.
Without the Byakugan, Gentle Fist was just taijutsu requiring close combat with unimpressive damage. Without Gentle Fist, the Byakugan was merely an observation tool. Like Kirigakure's Ao—he couldn't apply the stolen Byakugan to combat, only gathering intelligence.
But those who could see the essence were extremely rare. Most Hyuga clan members just mechanically practiced Gentle Fist, then rigidly executed Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms after activating their Byakugan.
If not for Kiyonari's good relationship with Neji, Neji probably wouldn't explain so much.
One principle understood, ten thousand principles understood.
Several ingenious ideas instantly surged through Hyuga Kiyonari's heart. This fighting style could even apply to archery. No wonder there was a saying about "the true teaching in one sentence."
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