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Chapter 3 - Chapter 3: Mentorship

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Hiruka wasn't sure what Neji intended to show him tomorrow, but he had an idea he would share the main branch family techniques with him; at least that was what he hoped he would do.

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Hiruka woke up earlier than usual to arrive at the training grounds well ahead of Neji. To his surprise, he found Neji already there, engrossed in training. Neji was undeniably talented, but his dedication and hard work set him apart. After all, being a member of the secondary house meant that one needed more than just talent to aspire to the same achievements as those from the main house.

"Hey, Neji," Hiruka said, waving as he walked closer. "You're here so early?"

"Well, I couldn't wait to learn from you, Neji-san," Hiruka replied. Hearing this brought a small smile to Neji's face.

"Well, you better be ready, Hiruka. I'm not going to go easy on you. I'll teach you the sixty-four palms technique. With your talents, it shouldn't be too hard for you to grasp."

Neji then activated his Byakugan, and Hiruka followed suit. Hiruka quickly understood what Neji meant by 'not holding back' when Neji charged at him and used the "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms" technique directly. Neji ensured to hold back and used no chakra in his attacks, which helped Hiruka focus on his body and the tenketsu points that were sore. While they weren't shut down, the locations of pain were significant.

"Now use it against me," Neji said, preparing for Hiruka's counterattack.

Hiruka listened intently as he attempted to execute the technique. The first thirty-two points were easy to target. The combinations flowed smoothly until he reached the 32nd tenketsu point. He had to concentrate on the pain in his own body to identify which points to hit. After Neji provided some pointers, he successfully struck all sixty-four tenketsu points, but his speed diminished as he approached the final target. They continued to trade blows until Hiruka found it easy to strike all sixty-four locations.

It was beneficial that Hiruka had a similar amount of talent compared to Neji in some regards. Now, all they had to work on was Hiruka's technique and the speed at which he struck each of the tenketsu points. While he knew where each one was, striking each one in a small amount of time was the most difficult thing. That is why learning this technique became harder with each variation. Neji himself had just begun doing the "Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms" somewhat effectively.

Neji and Hiruka used each other as sparring partners the entire day. Hiruka mainly focused on improving the speed at which he struck the sixty-four tenketsu points. He saw great progress as it became easier with each attempt. 

Neji and Hiraku would train together every day for the next four days. Hiraku had gotten used to using the sixty-four palms technique as his form didn't show any major flaws. This was mainly thanks to Neji pointing out each flaw he made during sparring. While Hiraku didn't make any major progress on his physical body or his chakra reserves, during this time, learning the sixty-four palms technique proved very useful.

Neji had to leave for another mission with Team Guy after four days. During this time, he and Hiruka grew closer, and Neji promised to teach him a new technique when he returned from his mission.

Hiruka's routine reverted to what it had been before. He attended the academy and trained even more intensely. He focused on increasing his chakra reserves by practicing the "water walking" ability and utilizing the "Palm Vacuum" technique. He even managed to reduce the time needed for this technique, allowing him to use it again after his first attack hit a target from ten meters away.

The academy began to feel monotonous, as nothing new was being taught during this period. It made sense that they focused on revision rather than introducing new material, but Hiruka wondered why he still needed to attend classes when he already understood the content. Taking inspiration from Naruto, he frequently chose to skip the Academy and dedicate his time to training instead.

Just like that, another three days passed. Neji had just returned from his mission, and Hiruka met him at Training Grounds 3, their unofficial meeting spot.

"How was the mission, Neji-san?" Hiruka asked as he showed up. "It went fine, but it could have been better if Lee had listened to the plan," Neji said as he remembered what happened in the mission and had an annoyed look. Neji had begun to talk about his mission more frequently and about his teammates. Hiruka didn't mind all that much; he had even asked Neji to introduce him to Tenten. When Neji asked for a reason, Hiruka said he wanted to learn more about "bukijutsu," and she was one of the few shinobi in Konoha who focused on it as their specialty. 

The real reason he wanted to meet her was to learn the basics of "Fūinjutsu." If he ever wanted to remove the curse seal, he needed to be skilled in this technique. Neji had mentioned that she primarily used storage scrolls to carry her weapons and was quite proficient in Fūinjutsu. Although Hiruka had been aware of this before, hearing Neji bring it up made him consider the possibility of learning from her in the future.

While there were plenty of Fūinjutsu scrolls in the clan compound, access was forbidden for secondary house members. Those caught trying to learn were heavily punished. The clan allowed individuals like Neji to use main house techniques if they learned them through observation, but there was no tolerance for those seeking to learn Fūinjutsu directly.

The new technique that Neji wanted to teach him could only be learned through pure observation, as there was no effective way to guide someone in their current situation, especially since neither of them had the official scrolls containing the correct instructions for learning this technique.

"Watch carefully," Neji instructed. "Eight Trigrams Palms: Revolving Heaven!"

Hiruka activated his Byakugan as he looked at how the technique worked.

Neji began to spin rapidly, expelling chakra from each of his tenketsu points to create a protective dome of chakra around himself. He had advised Hiruka to start by expelling a small amount of chakra from each tenketsu point, which Hiruka followed.

Hiruka's first attempt showed promise; he started to spin as Neji had done, but his protective dome had several gaps. He had failed to expel chakra from all of his tenketsu points, missing a few minor ones, which resulted in openings in the dome. Determined, he tried again, ensuring he addressed the points he had previously overlooked. This time, he successfully created a complete dome around himself.

"Now, try to make the dome bigger," Neji instructed Hiruka when he finished rotating.

Hiruka spun once more, trying to expand the protective dome. It grew by a meter, but the pressure on his tenketsu points became intense. He had to cancel the technique halfway through because he couldn't handle the strain.

"You need to control the chakra flowing through each point precisely; you can't just force it out. Try again," Neji advised, guiding him in the right direction. Hiruka began to spin again, focusing on the chakra he pushed out from each of his tenketsu points. The size of the dome increased again, but the pressure was much less this time.

When Hiruka finished the technique, Neji took out a kunai and told him to repeat the process. Hiruka created another protective dome, maintaining the same size as before. Neji then infused the kunai with his chakra and threw it toward the dome. The kunai pierced right through, stopping the technique.

"Now that you understand how to expel chakra and increase the dome's size, you need to increase the amount of chakra expelled through each tenketsu point. The amount you used before was minimal; now try increasing it."

Hiruka started spinning as he attempted to expel more chakra. However, after several attempts, he realized he was placing too much pressure on certain points. Neji activated his Byakugan to identify the issue. He quickly found the problem.

"You're expelling the same amount of chakra through each point. While this works with a small amount that each point can handle, it becomes problematic when you start increasing the flow. It puts excessive pressure on your minor tenketsu points. You need to expel more chakra from your major points and less from your minor ones," Neji explained.

Hiruka finally understood. He performed another rotation, and this time there were no gaps and no pressure on his tenketsu points. Neji threw another kunai infused with the same amount of chakra as before. This time, it bounced right off the dome.

"Well done," Neji said, starting to clap sarcastically. "Took you long enough." Hiruka chuckled lightly as he deactivated his Byakugan. Expelling chakra through every tenketsu point was quite draining, especially when done repeatedly.

"I hear your graduation exam is coming up soon," Neji remarked, looking at Hiruka.

"Yeah, it's in a week or two. I haven't been keeping up lately," Hiruka replied.

"I understand. Just so you know, I'm going on another mission tomorrow, and it looks like this one will take a couple of weeks, at most, a month. I won't be able to help you with training during that time, so remember everything I taught you," Neji said as he began to walk away from Training Ground 3.

Hiruka's arsenal had improved significantly over the past few weeks. The two new techniques Neji had taught him would prove to be extremely useful in future combat. During the weeks leading up to the graduation exam, Hiruka hadn't attended any classes; instead, he dedicated his time to training. His Byakugan now had a range of nearly fifty meters. The weights he had been using were starting to become ineffective as his physical strength increased, so he needed to find some proper weights soon.

When he woke up in the morning, he realized the graduation exam was finally here upon seeing the graffiti covering the Hokage monument. He arrived late to class, as Iruka and Naruto had yet to show up. Some classmates asked where he had been, but he gave them vague answers, and they soon stopped trying to pry further.

Sasuke's expression changed noticeably when Hiruka walked into the room. Hiruka understood why; their last encounter hadn't gone well, and Sasuke was likely still upset about losing to him again. Hiruka took his assigned seat and waited for Iruka to arrive with Naruto.

He wasn't overly concerned about the exam; if memory served him correctly, the test for being classified as a genin involved simply creating a clone using the clone technique. All he had to do now was wait.

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