Noon arrived. Hyuga Kumo walked back to the Hyuga compound from the Konoha Hospital, looking down at his bandaged hand.
Thanks to this body's increasingly powerful self-healing ability, the wound on his hand had actually healed completely on the way to the hospital.
He had cut his palm again only to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.
Even so, the medical-nin at the hospital still marveled that such a strong self-healing ability was rare.
Of course, Hyuga Kumo had other reasons for doing this.
"..."
Lost in thought, Hyuga Kumo had already arrived outside a training ground. He looked up and saw a figure respectfully surrounded by several people.
Himawari Hyuga, the daughter of a Main Family elder of the Hyuga Clan.
Her long black hair seemed to flow under the sunlight. The sixteen-year-old girl's healthy, rosy cheeks still had a hint of baby fat, but her white eyes were like blades tempered in ice.
"Get out of my way!"
She kicked the kneeling Branch Family member in front of her without mercy. The clansman only grunted, suppressing his pain, not daring to show—or even feel—any dissatisfaction.
"Useless."
Himawari glared at him with disgust, her gaze sweeping over the other Branch Family members. Her tone was annoyed. "All of you are useless! Not a single one of you dares to fight back. And father sent you trash to protect me?"
The surrounding Branch Family members lowered their heads, their attitudes respectful and humble, not daring to offer any rebuttal or transgression.
Because that Main Family elder only had this one daughter, who had been spoiled since childhood, leading to her arrogant, pampered, and willful personality.
If it were just that, it wouldn't be a big deal. Many Main Family children were like this.
But she was also aggressive and competitive, always thinking about leaving the village to kill enemies on the battlefield.
This time, because her father had once again denied her request to leave the village, she was in a bad mood and was taking it out on them, insisting that they use their full strength to spar with her.
Putting aside whether they might accidentally injure her if they used their full strength, any transgression now would result in the torture of the curse seal.
Never mind being insulted and beaten a little now, which didn't really hurt. As long as they didn't have to endure that soul-deep, worse-than-death pain, they would even be willing to kneel and bark like dogs if Himawari wanted.
"Wait a minute." Seeming to notice something, Himawari frowned and questioned, "Is someone missing?"
At these words, the Branch Family members raised their heads slightly. Their eyes met briefly, and they all knew who was absent.
"Lady Himawari."
After a moment of silence, the Hyuga clansman who had stopped Hyuga Kumo that morning was the first to speak, saying respectfully, "It's..."
"Lady Himawari, I am here."
Before he could finish, a familiar voice came, making his body tremble involuntarily. He felt a dull ache begin in his bruised abdomen.
Himawari turned her head with a frown and saw the approaching Hyuga Kumo. She said coldly, "I was wondering who was missing. So it's you, you failure."
Hyuga Kumo ignored Himawari's taunt, simply raising his bandaged hand and bowing his head slightly. "My apologies, Lady Himawari. My hand is injured, so today I may not be able to..."
VMM!
The whistling sound of something tearing through the air suddenly reached his ears. He instinctively tilted his head to dodge. A fist grazed his earlobe, the wind from the punch rustling the black hair tied back at his nape.
Hyuga Kumo calmly raised his lowered eyes to meet a pair of emotionless white eyes.
"Cut the crap," Himawari said indifferently. "Let me see if you've made any progress, you failure."
As her voice fell, Himawari's fist retracted and transformed into a palm, pushing towards Hyuga Kumo's chest.
But in the next moment, the figure before her moved with an almost "floating" step, retreating like a leaf blown by the wind to evade the palm strike.
A flash of astonishment crossed Himawari's eyes. Vicious veins crawled around her eye sockets as she assumed the true opening stance of the Gentle Fist.
The next moment, her right hand became a blur, her three fingers held together, about to strike Kumo's left shoulder.
"..." Seeing this, Hyuga Kumo sighed inwardly. So troublesome.
Although he didn't want to show his hand so early, it was also impossible for him to obediently kneel and act like a dog.
After all, he had endured for three years to get a chance to change his fate. If he continued to kneel and act like a dog now, wouldn't those three years of endurance have been for nothing?
So, did he want to stand, or did he want to earn "money"?
"I want to stand, and earn the 'money' too."
Since that was the case... Hyuga Kumo slowly closed his eyes.
As expected, he once again entered that state of total concentration. Apart from the perception of his spirit, his five physical senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—were all sealed off.
BAM!
His figure spun and leaned back sharply. Himawari's fingertips grazed the tip of his nose, leaving a palm print an inch deep in the wooden post behind him. Splinters of wood scattered onto his eyelashes, carrying the bitter scent of pine resin.
Himawari's fists and palms came one after another, her movements swift, but in Hyuga Kumo's perception, they were incredibly slow.
And the boiling blood in his body rushed like a tide, the scorching sensation like lava, allowing his body to keep up with the speed of his thoughts.
He was like the only normally-paced being in a slow-motion film, freely moving within a timeline that had been stretched to extreme lengths.
"What's going on?"
Watching as Hyuga Kumo dodged every single one of her moves with his eyes closed, Himawari's pupils constricted. Her expression became excited, but the movements of her hands gradually grew impatient.
Hyuga Kumo could "see" that her seemingly fierce attacks actually exposed an opening under her ribs with every turn.
In the next second, seizing the opening from her mistake, Hyuga Kumo's raised palm deftly twisted from in front of his chest like a fish, grabbing Himawari's wrist. His other arm also blocked her arm, and a force twisted out along her muscles and bones...
CRACK! KRAK!
In a brief instant, two sounds came from Himawari's arm.
One was the sound of a dislocation, the other was the sound of it being set back in place.
The movements were so practiced and fluid that she wasn't even given a chance to cry out in pain, leaving only a momentary sharp sting.
Before she could recover from her shock, Hyuga Kumo's body moved again.
His body seemed to tremble with a frequency barely visible to the naked eye. A piercing force was instantly transmitted from his spine through his muscles to his arm, whipping it like a whip towards Himawari at his side.
POW!
It sounded like a tough bamboo stalk being bent to its breaking point and then suddenly released, cracking against the air. A cloud of white mist could even be seen exploding in the air.
The blow struck Himawari's arm as she raised it to block, sending her staggering back several steps as if hit by a hammer. It looked as if she was about to fall to the ground in a sorry state...
If she looks too pathetic, it'll be troublesome to handle.
Hyuga Kumo sighed, raised his hand and grabbed Himawari's collar, pulling her forcefully without a shred of gentlemanly conduct.
"Are you done playing, Lady Himawari?"
Hyuga Kumo opened his eyes. Looking at Himawari's trembling pupils, he spoke in a low voice laced with a hint of harshness, "If you truly want to go to the battlefield, you should at least understand..."
"In this land soaked in blood, within this cruel family, you are alive because many lives have been sacrificed."
"Those who live must be worthy of such sacrifices."
"Unfortunately, in my opinion, you are not yet worthy."
With that, he raised his head, released Himawari's hand, and pushed her away.
Ignoring the surrounding gazes of astonishment, fear, or shock, Hyuga Kumo gave Himawari a slight bow and then turned to leave.
With his back to Himawari's gaze, Hyuga Kumo's expression was calm as he walked away with a steady pace.
But the moment he stepped out of the training ground, the prompt he had been waiting for sounded in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Your lie has been judged as [Hypocrisy] and [Flirting with the opposite sex]. Himawari Hyuga has experienced a strong emotional fluctuation, reaching the level of [self-doubt]. 300 Manifestation Points obtained...]
"...Tsk, that's slander."
The smile on Hyuga Kumo's face instantly vanished. He muttered in a low voice, "Deceiving women is something I cannot do."
After the joke, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw a familiar figure with a resentful look on his young face, running out from another courtyard.
That was... Hyuga Neji.
"Oh, look at that," Hyuga Kumo narrowed his eyes and smiled. "My protagonist has appeared."