He could use the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists, and Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. By comparison, Takao Hyuga had only mastered what the Branch Family were allowed to learn, the Gentle Fist Gentle Fist Style: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms. This had never been a fair fight.
Still, Takao Hyuga could not kneel and surrender. If he did so in front of everyone, the Branch Family who had just begun to stand tall would be broken again. "Enough talk," he said coldly, staring at Youto. "If you lose, you kneel and apologize too."
Youto's eyes turned cold. He lowered his stance and assumed the opening form of Gentle Fist. "Since you refuse to wake up," he said as his eyes bulged with blood, "I'll make you see the gap clearly."
In a flash, Youto vanished from where he stood, leaving a blurred afterimage. He closed in instantly, his index and middle fingers together, wrapped in condensed Chakra that shrieked through the air. The strike aimed straight for the shoulder point on Takao Hyuga's right arm.
The intent was clear and vicious, meant to cripple that arm beyond healing. Though the speed was almost impossible to follow, Takao Hyuga's eyes moved. His own eyes narrowed as his narrowed pupils tracked Youto.
He turned his left hand into a blade wrapped in Chakra and slashed toward the inside of Youto's wrist. The palm barely knocked the deadly strike aside, but the escaping force tore a gash in his sleeve. The two were now pressed close, legs locked like iron stakes driven into the ground.
They stared at each other, both with the same Pure Byakugan. "Not bad reflexes," Youto said with disdain. "But the gap between the Hyuga Main Family and the Branch Family is not something you can bridge. Face reality."
His attack did not stop. The blocked wrist twisted unnaturally, fingers spreading into a palm as a stronger surge of Chakra gathered. Gentle Fist Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
A low hum rang out as Yangdou Ryoma thrust both palms forward at the same time. In an instant, countless palm strikes poured down like a violent storm, filling the air with overlapping afterimages. Each strike carried condensed Chakra, precisely covering the vital points around Takao Hyuga Ryoma's body as sharp wind sounds tore through the air.
Takao Hyuga Ryoma's expression shifted slightly as he pushed Pure Byakugan to its limit. He tried to track the trajectories of the palm shadows while his body moved like a leaf in the wind, dodging and blocking at high speed. His breathing grew heavier as the pressure mounted.
Bang, bang bang, bang bang bang.
Takao Hyuga Ryoma also used Gentle Fist to block continuously, their palms colliding again and again with dense, dull impacts. The repeated clashes even kicked up bursts of wind between them. The sound rolled outward across the field.
The onlookers around them instinctively stepped back several paces. Their faces showed clear surprise as they stared at the two figures at the center of the field. No one spoke, afraid to miss a moment.
Both fighters had pushed their speed to the limit, attacking each other's vital points without mercy, like sworn enemies. Their bodies blurred into two fading shadows beneath the setting sun, and the air churned violently with every collision. The ear-splitting impacts merged into a single continuous roar.
Takao Hyuga Ryoma drove Gentle Fist Style: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms to its peak, his movements clean and fast, carrying the ruthless edge typical of the Branch Family Members. Yet against Yangdou Ryoma's more refined, faster, and wider-ranging sixty-four palms, he was clearly starting to fall behind. His blocks came later, and his footing grew less stable.
Even though Takao Hyuga Ryoma had richer combat experience, this was not a battlefield of life and death. He had no chance to turn that experience into an advantage here. In the eyes of the others, he had already been dragged into Yangdou Ryoma's rhythm and pace.
Step by step, Takao Hyuga Ryoma was forced backward as his range of movement kept shrinking. Several tears had already appeared in his clothing. In just a few seconds and nearly a hundred strikes, Yangdou Ryoma's fingertips, wrapped in Chakra, brushed dangerously close to his vital points again and again, sending waves of chilling numbness through him.
Finally, Takao Hyuga Ryoma failed to dodge in time. The vital point on his left shoulder was struck precisely by Yangdou Ryoma's fingertip. A cold surge of Chakra invaded his channels, and his left arm was instantly seized by intense numbness and weakness.
"Ugh."
Takao Hyuga Ryoma let out a muffled groan as his face turned pale, clutching his left shoulder while pulling back. His gaze locked firmly onto Yangdou Ryoma, filled with stubborn resolve. His breathing was uneven, but his stance did not collapse.
"Did you see that?"
Yangdou Ryoma did not pursue him. Instead, he drew his hands back and stood tall, wearing an arrogant smile. "This is the gap between us. Kneel and admit your mistake now, and it is not too late."
Takao Hyuga Ryoma clenched his teeth and did not answer. Around the pupils of his clear Pure Byakugan, the veins bulged sharply. He was replaying every detail of Yangdou Ryoma's execution of Gentle Fist Style: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and the flow of Chakra in his mind.
"Hmph. An overconfident idiot. Then I will break your legs."
Seeing no reply, Yangdou Ryoma's eyes flashed coldly. "Let's see how you Branch Family Members trash will ever claim to stand on equal footing with the Hyuga Main Family."
He leaned forward slightly, hands hanging at his sides, as a far more violent surge of Chakra erupted from his body. Visible waves of Chakra rose from his fists, fierce and oppressive, like the mane of a roaring lion. The air around him trembled.
Gentle Fist·Twin Lions Fist!
Yangdou Ryoma vanished from where he stood. Like a lion pouncing on its prey, he struck with both fists, slamming down toward the unsteady Takao Hyuga Ryoma.
At that critical moment, Takao Hyuga Ryoma's eyes sharpened. He took a deep breath and forced the Chakra out of his blocked points, suppressing the numbness in his left arm. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward into the attack.
His hands mirrored Yangdou Ryoma's earlier movements. They were clearly rough and unfamiliar, yet the force behind them was not weak. His posture was firm despite the pain.
A low hum echoed as equally violent yet sharper Chakra burst from Takao Hyuga Ryoma's fists. The energy gathered into blue lion heads that looked slightly Crimson giant illusory but clearly formed. Their outlines flickered with cutting force.
Land of Wind Release Chakra·Twin Lions Fist!
"You…"
Shock filled Yangdou Ryoma's eyes. In the next instant, the two pairs of fists wrapped in violent Chakra collided head-on. There was no flourish, only raw impact.
Boom.
A deafening explosion rang out as the clashing Chakra sent shockwaves tearing outward. Dust and grass were flung into the air, and the entire training field fell into sudden silence. The air itself seemed to shudder.
Cough, cough.
When the dust slowly settled, Takao Hyuga Ryoma could be seen near the edge of the field, kneeling on one knee and gasping for breath. The Chakra around his fists dissipated, his arms trembling uncontrollably. A thin line of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.