The leaves of Konoha were calm at dusk.
Night fell like a gray coat over the buildings, and the four heads of Shadow Rock, like emaciated giants, calmly watched over this land turbulent with undercurrents.
Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Hinata Kumokawa, dressed in a white training uniform, stood quietly in the center of the spacious courtyard with his eyes closed.
Wood chips and pieces were scattered throughout the courtyard. The wooden stakes around the perimeter were broken and the well-maintained lawn was also scarred and pitted. Some of the remaining wooden stakes were still stained with blood that had not yet dried.
"It's done."
Hinata Kumokawa opened his eyes, looked at the panel in front of him, and smiled, "Finally, I have ranged and offensive ninjutsu."
[Physical Skills: Gentle Fist Technique - Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms (Rank C), Eight Gates Formation - Gate of Life (Forbidden Technique), Gentle Fist Technique - One Strike (Rank B), Air Strike (Rank A)]
"It imitated Kaguya Otsutsuki's 'Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack,' but given the talent of her body, the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack should just be something she does casually, like throwing bricks with great force."
Hinata Kumokawa pulled his wandering thoughts back and looked up at the messy courtyard.
After hesitating for a moment, he still didn't pack up and turned to walk into the house.
After spending the morning training intensely with Might Guy, and then exhausting himself developing ninjutsu in the afternoon, all he wanted to do was go back and get some rest.
However, not long after he entered the house, a figure appeared outside the courtyard.
The visitor was also taken aback by the scene in the courtyard.
What's going on?
The person frowned, silently entered the courtyard, stood in front of the door for a few seconds, and then decided to open it.
However, the moment his hand touched the doorknob...
Bang!
The door suddenly slammed open from the inside, the force so great that it created a loud bang, the sound spreading along the doorknob.
It was as if it wanted to smash the person who came in, scatter them on the lawn to become fertilizer, or as if it wanted to rush into his body.
"Um?"
The person was stunned for a moment. The hand on the doorknob instinctively pressed forward against the door panel, and suddenly exerted force to unleash the power of the soft fist, barely managing to counteract the surging force.
All the forces dissolved into water as if they had been dissolved by two opposing forces.
Hinata Kumokawa stopped what he was doing in the room, seemingly realizing who the newcomer was.
Click.
The door was opened.
Upon seeing the face of the figure outside the door, Hinata Kumokawa seemed to be taken aback for a moment.
"Hizashi-sama?"
Hyuga Kumokawa snapped out of his daze, a hint of apology on his face: "I'm sorry, Hizashi-sama, I thought it was..."
"You shouldn't be apologizing; I'm the one who came uninvited."
Hyuga Hizashi, dressed in a black kimono, waved his hand, ignoring Hyuga Kumokawa's actions. He hid his slightly trembling hand behind his back, looked at Hyuga Kumokawa with a hint of admiration in his eyes, and smiled, "May I come in and sit for a while?"
"Please come in." Hinata Kumokawa readily agreed, smiled, and stepped aside.
"Excuse me." Hyuga Hizashi stepped into the entrance hall, his gaze sweeping across the simple and empty interior of the house, before lingering briefly on another room with its door open and training equipment placed inside.
"I already know what happened this morning. It was right of you to be cautious when you saw someone sneaking into the house."
The two sat down in the living room. Hyuga Hizashi sighed and spoke first: "I just didn't expect someone would dare to attack you in the village. How are your injuries?"
Noticing Hizashi's gaze as he looked at his palm, Hyuga Kumokawa smiled and said, "Luckily, it's mostly healed now."
"There's only the two of us here, so there's no need to be so formal in private." Richa nodded. "Your father and I had a very good relationship. I've neglected you. I'm relieved to see that you're alright."
Speaking of which, this nominal head of the branch family actually has a pretty good reputation within the branch family. For example, he is currently treating Hinata Kumokawa with great gentleness, more like an elder than a head of the family.
Hyuga Hizashi inquired about Hyuga Kumokawa's recent situation, but paused suddenly during the conversation. After hesitating for a moment, he did not reprimand Hyuga Kumokawa for his overstepping of bounds at noon, as the elder of the main family had suggested.
Looking at Hyuga Kumokawa's youthful face, thinking of his deceased father, and recalling Neji's current attitude towards the main family, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
With such appalling behavior and attitude from the main family, how could people not feel resentment? All he could do was try his best to appease them.
"You broke those wooden stakes outside, didn't you?" Hyuga Hizashi changed the subject, saying with emotion, "I didn't expect you to improve so much, and you even managed to awaken the Byakugan out of misfortune. But you should also be careful with the intensity and not hurt yourself."
"You flatter me, Lord Hizashi." Hyuga Kumokawa remained polite, but did not echo the other party's words. Instead, he said calmly, "After all, I will be all alone from now on and can only rely on myself."
Upon hearing this, Hyuga Hizashi was stunned for a moment, and then guilt and regret rose in his heart once again.
Seeing Hinata Kumokawa's outwardly calm but inwardly sorrowful expression, Hinata Hizashi felt unable to bring himself to ask the question he wanted to ask.
What's the question?
Are you suggesting we ask him how he suddenly became so strong when he used to be a complete waste?
Is there even a need to ask?
The death of his only relative, his father, was enough to change a timid child.
"..."
Hyuga Hizashi subconsciously pursed his dry lips, only then realizing that the child hadn't even prepared tea.
There's still some resentment in my heart.
We can only try our best to appease them.
"Alright, if you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can come to me." Hyuga Hizashi stood up. "I'm going back now. You must be tired too, so get some rest."
He didn't rush to leave. Instead, he took out two scrolls from his pocket, placed them on the tea table in front of him, and said gently, "Now that you have awakened the Byakugan, you should have mastered the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms. This is the advanced Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."
Hinata Kumokawa glanced at the scroll laid out before him, his eyes flickering slightly. He knew that the other party had truly acted impulsively and gone to great lengths out of guilt and pity.
The Hyuga main family wants the branch family members to be strong so that they can be better protected, but they don't want the branch family members to become too strong.
Besides the Eight Trigrams Palm: Rotation, a secret technique passed down orally within the Hyuga main family, the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms is also one of the unique skills that branch family members can only learn with the permission of the main family.
While it may not be of much significance to the Five Kage, the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms is a very powerful technique when engaging most Jonin in close combat.
At best, it will slow down or block the flow of chakra; at worst, it will prevent the use of ninjutsu and leave one only to wait for death.
Only members of the branch families who do their utmost to protect the main family and demonstrate loyalty and obedience may be allowed to learn this technique.
As for the so-called Eight Trigrams 128 Palms, Hyuga Neji only used it once in the TV original storyline, and it was not shown in the manga. Therefore, the Eight Trigrams 64 Palms is probably the current limit of Gentle Fist.
If the main family finds out that Hizashi has been secretly teaching the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, they will surely punish him severely, and he will most likely have to experience the soul-deep pain of the "Caged Bird" curse seal again.
The moment Hyuga Hizashi took out the two scrolls, he already regretted it a little, but before he could say anything, Hyuga Kumokawa had already picked up the two scrolls.
"Thank you." Hyuga Kumokawa bowed his head, his face shrouded in shadow, his shoulders trembling slightly. "My father's ninjutsu scrolls and insights were all taken away. If it weren't for you, I really wouldn't know what to do next."
"..."
Upon hearing this, Hyuga Hizashi closed his slightly open mouth, which seemed to want to say something but then stopped. After a moment of silence, he could only sigh and say, "Don't resent the main family. This is our fate as a branch family. Your father certainly wouldn't want to see you suffer like this."
Having said that, fearing he might regret asking again, Hizashi took his leave this time.
Hinata Kumokawa sat in the living room with his head down, the sad expression on his face gradually turning calm as he looked up at the deepening night sky outside the window.
[Ding! Your lie has been judged as [hypocrisy]. Hyuga Hizashi experiences a strong emotional fluctuation, reaching the level of [self-doubt]. You have gained 1500 Truth Points.]
[Remaining Realization Points: 12293]
"Today has been quite fruitful." Looking at his points, Hyuga Kumokawa remarked, "If only there were a few more kind people like Lord Hizashi and Senior Guy."
However, seeing that he had more points on hand, he couldn't suppress his restless heart.
Just to be on the safe side, he kept 10,000 points for himself as a backup; a little over 1,000 points would be enough for him to cause trouble.
The first person that came to Hyuga Kumokawa's mind was, of course, Orochimaru, whom he respected the most.
"The scroll in Orochimaru's hand seems to be able to move now."
To him, Orochimaru was an experiment, a very useful experiment.
Hinata Kumokawa just happens to have a very bold idea.
He pondered for a moment, then silently recited in his mind: "Manifestation - Add the follow-up content of the scroll in Orochimaru's hand. The setting requires mastering the Reanimation Jutsu to break the seal and read it. The content is that the soul of a ninja with extremely deep resentment will materialize after death..."
Hinata Kumokawa briefly explained his needs and quickly received a response.
[Will the 100 Realization Points spent materialize?]
Since it only involves manifesting some text and a simple seal, it doesn't require many points.
"Manifestation," Hinata Kumokawa replied.
After confirming that the manifestation was complete, his eyes flickered slightly, and he thought of Hyuga Neji, whom he had seen today.
Orochimaru is ultimately too far away; it will take time to see results.
We can't just wait idly; we can start with other people. Hyuga Neji is a good choice.
After a moment of thought, Hinata Kumokawa silently recited in his mind: "Manifestation - clothes that can conceal one's identity, block the Byakugan's prying eyes and other senses, and will not be damaged."
[Will the 2000 Realization Points spent result in the desired outcome?]
"So expensive." He frowned, but still replied, "Yes."
[After deducting 2000 Realization Points, remaining Realization Points: 10193]
As the system's response came into his mind, Hinata Kumokawa, who was waiting for the physical object to arrive, suddenly saw his shadow change.
Black fluid gushed from the shadow beneath his feet, climbing up his ankles like liquid and gradually covering his entire body. Hinata Kumokawa looked up at himself in the mirror.
He was wearing a hooded black robe, the hem of which flowed and billowed, appearing more like a living thing than fabric, while his face was shrouded in unfathomable shadows.
[Shadow Robe: A black robe transformed from a shadow. Regardless of the host's size, it can change its shape as needed, interfering with most spying and perception. If damaged, it will automatically repair itself like liquid. Normally, it is hidden in the shadow (already bound)]
At this moment, Hinata Kumokawa had only one thought.
Those 2000 points coming true were worth it.
Advance Chapter Available On Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/c/LeviTL600