Neji struck a vital point on Hinata's right arm. Immediately, Hinata chose to create distance between herself and Neji.
Shindai had told her that in close combat, she could not defeat Neji. Still, she needed to confront him directly at first.
Because only then would Neji try to close the gap again when they fought from a distance. That way, the aggressive Neji might expose an opening. After all, the Hyuga Gentle Fist excelled at defensive counters, not offensive attacks.
Hinata's hands began forming seals.
[Fire Release: Ash Hiding Technique!]
Hinata exhaled high-temperature ash, enveloping herself and hiding within it.
Neji scoffed, "Do you really think hiding will work against the Byakugan?"
Just as Neji was about to charge into the ash cloud, his expression suddenly changed, and he quickly stepped back.
Looking down at his clothing, Neji saw a hole burned through where the ash had touched him.
The ash drifted rapidly toward Neji, forcing him to leap away quickly.
[Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique!]
Hinata released four fire dragons, attacking Neji simultaneously from above, below, left, and right.
[Rotation!]
Spinning his body, Neji deflected all four fire dragons.
In the bleachers, Hiashi Hyuga looked shocked. "A Uchiha Fire Release technique? Rotation?"
Hanabi also gasped. "That's Father's…"
Hiashi spoke seriously. "Rotation is a secret art passed down through generations of the Hyuga Main family. Hizashi should never have taught it to Neji. Did he figure it out on his own…? Impressive indeed.
What surprises me even more is that Hinata has learned a Uchiha Fire Release technique. Was it taught by Hikaku Uchiha?
I never expected Hinata to abandon her clan's Gentle Fist in favor of other ninjutsu… It's completely backwards. Has she forgotten who she truly is—a member of the Hyuga clan?"
Hiashi was clearly displeased by Hinata's choice to study ninjutsu. In his eyes, Hinata should have focused on mastering the Hyuga Gentle Fist. Learning other techniques—especially those of the Uchiha—was unacceptable.
It gave the impression that the Hyuga clan required Uchiha Fire Release techniques to grow stronger.
Hiashi Hyuga felt a pang of regret over allowing Hinata to follow Shindai—he felt that Hinata was straying further from her path.
As Neji used Rotation to block the fire dragons, he took the opportunity to circle around to Hinata's side.
[Gentle Fist Technique: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!]
With his Byakugan vision showing a circular Eight Trigrams pattern, Neji launched fierce attacks targeting sixty-four of Hinata's vital points.
Yet the moment Neji struck, Hinata dissolved into a puff of smoke.
This sudden twist caused Neji to hesitate for a moment.
"Shadow Clone?"
Neji's guess was not wrong. The Hinata-san he had hit was merely a Shadow Clone.
The Byakugan, despite its powerful observational abilities—including the capacity to see through the body's meridians, chakra points, and chakra flow—could not penetrate the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Shadow Clone Jutsu created physical duplicates formed entirely from the user's own chakra. Structurally and in terms of chakra flow, there was absolutely no difference between the clone and the original body, making it impossible for the Byakugan to distinguish one from the other based on observation alone.
Earlier, amidst the high temperature and dust, Hinata had used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to create a decoy to mislead Neji.
After Neji fell for the trick, Hinata appeared behind him.
[Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!]
Hinata hadn't yet mastered the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms, so she could only use the unperfected form.
Neji immediately moved to block. For someone who had already mastered the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, blocking these thirty-two strikes was extremely easy.
However, Neji quickly sensed something was off. Right after Hinata completed those thirty-two strikes, she made some hand seals. From what he could tell, it looked like a Fire Release technique—one identical to the previous one—which should have been the seal for a dragon-shaped fire stream.
Yet Neji's Byakugan detected no chakra gathering within Hinata.
Still, just to be safe, Neji preemptively activated Rotation.
But Hinata never intended to release any jutsu at all—it was another deception meant to pressure Neji into using Rotation.
At the very moment Neji initiated Rotation, Hinata took her stance.
Seeing Hinata's posture, Hiashi Hyuga could no longer remain seated. He abruptly stood up, staring at Hinata in shock.
Could it be...
[Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!]
Hinata began spinning as well, releasing a large amount of chakra from all the chakra points throughout her body, activating Rotation.
Hiashi murmured, "It really is Rotation... Hinata actually mastered Rotation too!"
He had earlier assumed Hinata was wasting her time training with Shindai, but now he felt a sharp pang of regret.
"However... a Rotation at this level will only end up pushing herself away."
Compared to Neji's Rotation, Hinata's was much weaker. Based on Hiashi's experience, her Rotation would barely last a few seconds before being repelled by Neji's.
Internally, Neji was also shocked—this Hinata-san, whom he had always looked down upon, had actually learned Rotation too.
And just like Hiashi, he believed the same thing: Hinata would soon be pushed back by his Rotation.
Shindai, Pakura, and Hikaku Uchiha all watched Hinata with anticipation. Whether this month's special training succeeded or failed hinged on this make-or-break move.
Neji and Hinata were gradually closing the distance.
Just as they were about to make contact, flickering sparks of electricity danced across Hinata's Rotation.
Hinata transformed her basic chakra, which sustained her Rotation, into lightning-natured chakra.
When Hinata's Rotation collided with Neji's Rotation, the lightning current spread into Neji's technique.
Neji instantly felt his body go numb—a characteristic of Lightning Nature Chakra.
With the change in momentum, Hinata's Rotation gained the upper hand.
Three seconds later, due to the paralysis from the lightning current, Neji could no longer evenly distribute his chakra to maintain his Rotation. He was forced to dispel it and was thrown back by Hinata's technique, crashing heavily into a tree.
Hyuga Hiashi was stunned—could Rotation even be used like this?
As clan leader, he had never seen Rotation used in such a way before.
Shindai leapt onto her chair, cheering, "No wonder you're my apprentice! Way to go, Hinata!"
Pakura and Uchiha Hikaku smiled proudly as well—Hinata had been trained by all three of them, and they shared in her accomplishment.
Naruto cheered excitedly just like Shindai, nearly falling off the stands if not for Sasuke grabbing him in time—he would've made a spectacle otherwise.
Jiraiya marveled, "That girl from the Hyuga clan is Shindai's student. I never expected Shindai to actually have a talent for teaching. She convinced the traditionalist Hyuga clan to use Ninjutsu and even improve their secret techniques."
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who knew the full story, said nothing but sighed quietly—without Hiashi turning away from Hinata, she never would've learned Ninjutsu under Shindai like this.
Now, even Sarutobi couldn't help but feel the Hyuga clan had become too rigid in tradition.
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