[Defeated Hyūga "Leek." Attempting to copy a tag…]
[Copy successful. Congratulations, host has obtained the common tag Powerful Fists and Feet (White): Punching and kicking strength +10%.]
…
[Defeated Hyūga Maoding. Attempting to copy a tag…]
[Copy successful. Congratulations, host has obtained the common tag Powerful Fists and Feet (White): Punching and kicking strength +10%.]
"Stack it."
[Stacking… Congratulations, host has obtained the refined tag Hard and Soft in Harmony (Green): On top of existing striking power, internal force is infused, dealing an additional 20% internal damage on hit.]
"Hm? Not bad at all. As expected of a clan that specializes in hand-to-hand combat—this tag is pretty good."
Ren's eyes lit up. He slapped the waist of the boy blocking his path.
Smack!
The boy collapsed and instantly went to sleep.
"Hey, sleeping isn't allowed here."
Ren tossed out a casual remark, sidestepped a Gentle Fist strike from his right rear, then countered with another palm strike.
Smack!
Smack! Smack! Smack!
In no time, one Hyūga youth after another was knocked to the ground.
And the number of taijutsu-related tags Ren obtained kept increasing.
At one point—
[Copy successful. Congratulations, host has obtained the refined tag Eight Trigrams Air Palm (Green): Using keen vision to perceive the opponent, compresses air into a projectile to strike vital points.]
Ren's movements paused for a split second.
Then his face lit up with delight.
"Eight Trigrams Air Palm?"
"Isn't this basically the palm-version of the Six Meridian Divine Sword?!"
He took a sharp breath, excitement rising.
Although it was only a green-grade tag, this was a ranged projectile.
Its damage depended on two factors.
First: accuracy of perception. As long as you could accurately hit the opponent's vital points—even a Susanoo could theoretically have a few ribs shattered.
(Of course, most Susanoo wouldn't actually break that easily.)
Second: the density of the compressed air—
Which meant chakra output.
The stronger the chakra, the denser the compressed air, and the more terrifying the power of the strike.
In other words, it was a scaling ability—
—or, put simply, a humanoid version of a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Ren glanced inward at the nearly two million units of chakra in his body and silently inhaled.
A single palm with two million battle power… that's practically a Tailed Beast Bomb already, isn't it?
Raising his brow, Ren casually lifted his hand and fired an air projectile toward the right.
Chakra consumption: 10,000.
Whooo—!
Smack!
The Hyūga youth on the right hadn't even finished charging forward before he was inexplicably blasted away by a palm strike!
His body flew more than ten meters like a kite with its string cut.
Thud!
He landed directly in front of Hiashi and the elder, staring at Uchiha Ren in absolute terror.
All fighting spirit vanished, leaving behind only raw fear.
"T-This guy… is way too terrifying!"
"Using palm techniques to knock down dozens of Hyūga at once?!"
Opposite them—
Hiashi's eyes widened instantly.
Veins bulged at his temples as his Byakugan activated unconsciously.
Even so, he still couldn't believe what he was seeing.
He murmured in shock,
"T-This… this… is that Eight Trigrams Air Palm?!"
"…It should be?"
The elder, despite his age, also had his Byakugan activated, veins bulging even thicker than his wrinkles.
Yet that did nothing to dampen his shock.
After several dozen seconds, he finally took a deep breath and turned to Hiashi.
"Has this child ever been exposed to the Eight Trigrams Air Palm before?"
"No," Hiashi answered immediately and decisively.
Ever since meeting Ren through Hinata two and a half years ago, he had quietly kept an eye on this boy.
On the surface, Ren seemed chaotic and unruly, yet every action subtly carried intent.
And remarkably—he lacked the arrogance and obsession typical of the Uchiha.
His emotions were unusually stable.
But when had he ever mastered the Eight Trigrams Air Palm?
As the Hyūga clan's signature technique, this move simply could not function properly without the Byakugan.
"Wait… it's the Sharingan!"
The thought struck Hiashi instantly. His gaze snapped toward Ren's eyes.
There—
Within the crimson pupils, three tomoe rotated slowly.
"Three-tomoe Sharingan!"
Hiashi went numb on the spot.
He had expected Ren to have awakened his eyes—
But he never imagined Ren had already reached three tomoe.
"Uchiha… Uchiha… truly a clan that invites envy."
"First Shisui and Itachi. Now another one like Ren—already rivaling them at such a young age."
"And then there's the new genius, Uchiha Sasuke… though compared to those three, that child is more like an add-on."
His gaze drifted downward.
All around them were groans of fallen Hyūga youths.
The sound stabbed into his ears again and again, forcing a bitter sigh.
Truly, comparing people only leads to despair.
Within the Hyūga clan, perhaps only one person could truly match the Uchiha prodigies of this generation.
With that thought, his gaze shifted toward the bandaged boy not far away.
There was a trace of expectation in his eyes.
"…Hm? I will protect the young lady."
Neji merely glanced at Hiashi, then looked away.
His feelings toward Hiashi were complicated.
On one hand, this man was partly responsible for his father's death.
On the other hand, he was also the uncle who had cared for him for years.
He wanted to hate him—but couldn't.
All he could do was stubbornly cling to the ninja path his father had left behind.
Fate.
As a member of the branch family, his fate was nothing more than the young lady not far away.
"…Haa."
Seeing that almost no one was still standing, Neji took a deep breath and slowly stepped forward.
"It's Neji!"
"Great! Neji's finally stepping in!"
"Thank goodness—Neji, you have to win our honor back!"
"Beat him! Beat him! Neji, smash him!"
When they saw Neji step out, the Hyūga youths collectively let out a sigh of relief.
This was the true genius of the Hyūga clan.
Even many main-branch members acknowledged that fact.
Neji was the real prodigy of this generation.
" Ren…"
Even Hinata unconsciously grew nervous and took two steps forward.
But the moment she moved, Neji shot her a sharp glare with his Byakugan.
She froze mid-step, at a loss.
She wanted to say something… but didn't dare.
In the end, with her face burning red and her voice barely above a whisper, she managed:
"Be careful…"
"Heh. Pathetic."
Neji glanced at Hinata with indifference.
Just as he was about to move—
Ren suddenly slung an arm around Neji's shoulders and pulled him close.
Whoosh!
A faint fragrance filled Neji's senses.
His young face flushed instantly.
His proud posture stiffened completely, leaving him at a total loss.
Under the setting sun, a boy's reddened face outshone everything else.
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