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The strength of the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist lies in the synergy between their Byakugan and chakra control. With the Byakugan, they can see the chakra pathway system and tenketsu—chakra nodes—throughout the opponent's body. By striking these precise points with the Gentle Fist, they can disrupt or seal chakra flow, temporarily disabling their enemy's ability to fight.
Under normal circumstances, anyone struck by the full force of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique would be completely unable to circulate chakra.
And yet—Hyuga Neji now stood with a deep frown.
He couldn't see the expected result.
"How can his body be this durable?" Neji thought, startled. "It's like hitting reinforced steel... even Guy-sensei doesn't have this level of toughness. My Sixty-Four Palms—did they really have no effect?"
He had clearly struck several tenketsu on Ye Dou's body.
Yet, through his activated Byakugan, Neji could still see chakra flowing smoothly inside Ye Dou—as if nothing had happened.
That shouldn't be possible.
"The Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist... is a bit underwhelming," Ye Dou said calmly, standing up and brushing dust off his uniform. His tone was flat, even cold. "Or maybe... a copy is just a copy. That Sixty-Four Palms technique you copied from Hyuga Hanabi barely scratches the surface."
"What?!" Tenten exclaimed in disbelief. "He was clearly hit by Neji's Sixty-Four Palms!"
"Enough talk," Ye Dou continued, eyes locked on Neji. "Draw your weapon—if you don't, you won't get another chance."
Neji's frown deepened. That word—copy—irritated him.
"You're not worth me drawing a weapon," Neji replied sharply.
But then, Ye Dou moved.
Without a word, he rolled up his sleeves, revealing thick wrist weights, which he unstrapped and dropped to the ground.
Neji narrowed his eyes.
"What difference does shedding some weights make? In my eyes—"
BOOM!
Before Neji could finish his sentence, a thunderous crash echoed through the forest.
Birds scattered into the sky in a frenzy.
As the dust cleared, everyone stared in disbelief: the weights Ye Dou had casually tossed aside had smashed a deep crater into the ground, fracturing the earth beneath them.
"W-What?!" Tenten gasped. "Those things made a bigger impact than a falling boulder!"
And then—it wasn't over.
Ye Dou squatted slightly, and with another boom, he unstrapped even more weights from his ankles.
This time, the tremor was even greater.
The entire third training field shook, and all of Team Guy—including Neji—stood frozen, dumbfounded.
No one knew how much weight Ye Dou had just removed—but they all knew one thing for sure: no ordinary human could wear those casually.
"What kind of monster is this...?" Tenten muttered, cold sweat running down her cheek.
Neji gritted his teeth.
"It doesn't matter how fast or strong you are. You can't escape my eyes. The Byakugan sees through everything—"
But before he could even finish, Ye Dou vanished.
Too fast!
With a crack of wind and a twist of his body, Ye Dou exploded into motion.
Wham!
Neji was sent flying by a sweeping whip kick before he could even react.
Even with the Byakugan active, he couldn't track the movement in time.
"His speed and strength both jumped... How heavy were those weights?!"
Neji couldn't believe it. How could someone develop such a monstrous physique at such a young age?
But there was no time to process it. While airborne, he saw Ye Dou leap after him. In the blink of an eye, he was already above Neji.
Bam!
Ye Dou kicked him again, like a ball being juggled in midair.
"Damn it... stay calm. If I can adjust to his speed, I might still have a chance."
Neji forced himself to focus, activating his Byakugan to the fullest, trying to track Ye Dou's movements.
He had to keep up—or he'd be completely overwhelmed.
But the moment he touched the ground, a massive surge of heat engulfed him.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
A giant sphere of roaring flame surged toward Neji.
"What?! Isn't Ye Dou a pure taijutsu user?" Rock Lee shouted in shock. "He can use ninjutsu too?!"
"Of course!" Guy-sensei said proudly, arms crossed. "Though Ye Dou's ninjutsu talent is average, he trained hard to learn this. That's the power of youth, Lee!"
Youth, my ass, Lee thought silently. Why don't I get results like that?!
"But where did he learn the Uchiha's Fireball Jutsu?" Tenten asked. "That's their signature move, isn't it?"
"Oh, right," Guy said, nodding thoughtfully. "Ye Dou and young Sasuke are actually good friends. They train together often, and I'm sure Sasuke taught him."
Good friends? They try to kill each other every time they meet!
Even the mongoose companion beside Ye Dou couldn't help but roll his eyes at Guy's description.
Still, Fireball Jutsu wasn't exclusive to the Uchiha—just mastered by them.
Even Jiraiya used a version of it with Gamabunta, and the seal formation was nearly identical to the Fireball Jutsu. His Toad Oil Flame Bullet was likely an advanced variation.
"This guy... he can even use Uchiha-level fire jutsu," Neji muttered, eyes widening.
But there was no time to think—the giant fireball was almost upon him. The heat alone was searing his skin.
He had to move—now—or be burned alive.
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