"Because... you cannot inflict effective damage on me."
Hearing this, Mukai was stunned.
He was still thinking about what Gin meant by 'I don't have a stomach." This statement left him completely speechless.
'Having personally felt my Gentle Fist, how could she dare to say something so arrogant? Did my earlier gentlemanly behavior give her the wrong idea that I wouldn't use my full strength?'
"Is that so? Then let's see what basis you have for saying that." Mukai took a deep breath, settled into a wide stance, raised his left palm forward, and placed his right hand in front of his chest.
A perfect Gentle Fist starting posture. Even the Hyuga Clan's Clan Head watching from the stands couldn't find any fault with it.
Gin's face showed no expression. She brought her hands together in front of her chest. "Earth Release: Rock Avalanche!"
Boom!
The earth violently split open.
Mukai leaped high into the air with agile grace, flipped his body, and brought his right leg down in a powerful axe kick, using his falling momentum.
Gin remained expressionless. Her silver eyes, fixed on the target, showed no change. She simply raised her right arm to block.
Thud!
A heavy, dull sound echoed through the arena. A strong gust of wind erupted from the point of impact.
Gin stood firm as a rock, unmoving. Her right hand twisted, trying to grab Mukai's ankle.
However, Mukai pushed down hard, using the force to flip backward through the air.
Tap!
He landed steadily on both feet and charged forward without hesitation. As he ran, his hands moved left and right, trying to confuse his opponent's vision.
The tactic succeeded.
Gin found it difficult to predict Mukai's attack path by observing subtle movements in his shoulders or other body parts.
But...
"Meaningless."
Gin spoke coldly, then did something that shocked everyone.
She didn't dodge, block, or counter. Instead, she closed her eyes and spread her arms wide, increasing the area for him to hit.
Her posture seemed to say: Go ahead, use whatever moves you have!
"Arrogant!"
Even someone as good-natured as Mukai felt anger rise within him.
He dashed up to Gin, his hands becoming a blur as he struck her body repeatedly.
Punch, palm strike, finger jab, knife-hand...
Mukai used every Gentle Fist technique he knew, attacking every vital point on her body. Each move channeled fierce force through her outer defenses into her internal organs, the energy bursting out from her back.
The attack was like a storm. This level of power would cause even granite to crack from the inside. The spectators watched with bated breath, their nerves on edge.
But...
Useless. Useless!
Facing this storm of attacks, even though blood seeped from her forehead and the corner of her mouth, Gin's body didn't move at all. Her feet didn't retreat even a step.
The spectators also noticed this and became dumbfounded one by one.
"This is impossible!"
The elderly Hyuga Clan's Clan Head sprang to his feet.
He stared in disbelief at the two fighters below, his somewhat thin frame trembling. "Although Mukai only learned a portion of the branch house's Gentle Fist, his application of force and technique has surpassed the main house. No one should be able to withstand this level of Gentle Fist with their body alone, because human internal organs cannot be trained like muscles."
Everyone heard the Hyuga elder's words and became even more astonished.
Many hadn't understood what made the Gentle Fist so formidable. They only saw Mukai's ferocious assault, thinking anyone hit by it would be knocked down.
Now they understood.
Mukai's attacks weren't just fast and powerful; each strike was a sophisticated technique that bypassed muscle and bone to directly attack internal organs.
Especially Hiruzen. The shock in his heart was no less than the Hyuga elder's.
The world knew him as the Professor of Ninjutsu, but how many knew he was also a master of Taijutsu?
Although he didn't know deep secrets like the Gentle Fist, his own Taijutsu was nearly unmatched...
In the original work, he used a single staff thrust to knock the Nine-Tails out of the village. He even physically overwhelmed the reanimated First and Second Hokage. Although the First and Second were weaker due to imperfect reanimation, Hiruzen himself was 69, with physical attributes like strength and speed comparable to recent Academy's graduates.
Precisely because he was skilled in Taijutsu, he understood how powerful Mukai's attacks were.
And precisely because he understood their power, he was even more shocked by Gin, who took the hits without defending and remained unharmed.
'Was such a thing possible for a human?'
...
"Impossible, impossible, impossible! This is impossible!"
Mukai looked frantic, his eyes bloodshot, all his previous coolness and composure gone.
His hands struck faster, harder, more viciously. But no matter how fierce his assault, Gin stood as steady as a boulder, unmoving.
Mukai grew more and more frantic.
'I am a Gentle Fist genius. As a toddler learning to walk, I unconsciously learned the footwork just by watching my father practice. Many subtle principles my father never mastered in his lifetime, I understood at a glance.'
'I worked harder than anyone. For over twenty years, rain or shine, day and night, I practiced. Even with only part of the branch house's techniques, I surpassed anyone in the Hyuga Clan'
'I graduated from the Ninja Academy at 7, became a Chunin at 8, entered the ANBU at 10, became a Jonin at 14, and an Anbu Captain at 17.'
'I've fought countless battles, often teetering on the edge of death, but I have never been defeated.'
'The Gentle Fist that brought me here, the Gentle Fist I'm so proud of...'
"It cannot be ineffective!"
Mukai roared wildly, gathering all his strength and Chakra into his right hand, and slammed his palm against Gin's forehead.
Yet this blow, capable of shattering a skull, only made Gin's head tilt back slightly.
The attacks stopped.
Mukai stared dumbly at Gin, who only had a small cut near her eye. His right arm hung limply, and he gasped for breath.
"Are you finished?" Gin looked at him calmly. "If you're done, then let's bring this duel to a close."
As she spoke, she reached out with her right hand to grab him.
At the critical moment, Mukai leaped backward.
"Don't get too arrogant!" He glared from over ten meters away, eyes filled with blood vessels, his voice a hoarse roar. "You must be secretly using some Ninjutsu! Otherwise, the Gentle Fist couldn't possibly be useless!"
"Does it matter whether I am or not?" Gin shook her head slightly, her silver eyes showing no emotion. "It doesn't change the fact that your Gentle Fist has no effect on me."
"That makes all the difference!" Mukai sounded almost hysterical, but his gaze was firm. "If you're using Ninjutsu, then there must be a way to counter it..."
[Byakugan!]
Mukai formed hand seals, his eyes snapping wide. His left eye instantly turned pale white, veins bulging around it. A black mark appeared in the pupil. An invisible pressure radiated from his eye, scattering the surrounding dust.
"What?!"
The Hyuga Clan's Clan Head, who had just sat down, shot back to his feet, staring in disbelief. His aged body trembled even more violently than before. "Mukai... has the Byakugan?!"
"Sigh..."
Hiruzen sighed helplessly, rubbing his temples in frustration.
'This is going to cause big trouble...'
The other spectators didn't understand the deeper meaning. They only saw Mukai activate the Byakugan and thought he was unveiling his ultimate technique. The Konoha's side cheered excitedly for him. The Sunagakure's side shouted warnings for Gin to be careful.
But...
"I lose."
After activating the Byakugan and clearly seeing Gin's bodily structure, Mukai slumped to the ground, defeated.
Yet, his expression also relaxed.