"Hmph! Your Gentle Fist? Don't flatter yourself! You're just a branch house brat! Once you expose your main body, you've already lost!"Hinata Hiro lunged forward, thrusting his palm straight toward Hinata Haruki's chest.
Haruki's Byakugan had already seen through the subtle shifts in Hiro's muscles.
"Oh? You're aiming for my chest?" Haruki said flatly, his tone making it seem as though he had read Hiro's intentions long before he moved. The remark made Hiro's heart skip a beat.
Hiro's right palm came within mere centimeters of Haruki's chest—only for Haruki to casually deflect it aside with one smooth motion. His open hand shifted into sword-like fingers, darting toward Hiro's arm. Hiro reacted quickly, attempting to dodge.
"Hmph! Trying to dodge to the right?" Haruki's fingers followed like a shadow, changing direction instantly. It was as if he had been waiting for Hiro's arm to move right into his strike.
Pak! His fingers jabbed the target.
"Outer Pass Point!"
Hiro's arm flared with sharp pain as Haruki's chakra needle destroyed the tenketsu completely.
Almost instantly, Haruki's other hand was already darting toward another point on Hiro's right arm. Hiro tried to block with his left hand—
"Heavenly Well Point!" Haruki spoke as though he knew exactly how Hiro would react.
Pak! His strike landed a split second before Hiro could defend.
"Ahh!" Hiro screamed as another tenketsu was destroyed.
"Great Mound Point!" Haruki's attack didn't pause—his reversed jab landed instantly. Within the span of heartbeats, three points had been shut down. Hiro's right arm hung uselessly at his side.
"You damn brat!!" Hiro snarled, swinging his left hand in a desperate counter to force Haruki back.
"Oh? Going for my right shoulder now?" Haruki's calm words chilled Hiro's blood.
Haruki tilted slightly, letting Hiro's strike miss entirely.
"Small Sea Point!" Haruki's counterstrike stabbed into Hiro's elbow. The sharp pain quickly gave way to numbing paralysis—his arm felt as if it no longer belonged to him.
"Crooked Pool! Marsh of the Crooked!" Haruki's relentless assault grew faster, alternating between left and right.
Soon, Hiro's entire forearm was dead and limp. Panic struck him, and he tried to retreat.
"Still think you can pull back now?" Haruki's cold voice rang in his ears.
No! Impossible! Hiro's mind screamed. There's no way he can read all my moves!
But Haruki shattered that thought. His left hand locked tightly around Hiro's right wrist, preventing any escape.
"Leg Three Miles! Maximum Hole! Lesser Sea!" Haruki's sword-fingers stabbed in rapid succession, leaving dense marks along Hiro's right arm.
Hiro tried to yank his arm away with all his strength, but Haruki's grip was iron.
"Hero's White! Pool of the Forearm! Split Deficiency!"
By the time those tenketsu were struck, Hiro's arm had swollen and turned a deep purplish-red. Haruki had disabled every vital point in the limb.
"Ahhh! Let me go, you little beast!!" Hiro roared, struggling wildly. His earlier arrogance had been completely stripped away.
He lashed out with his left hand toward Haruki's face, but Haruki evaded with ease. With his Byakugan fully active, Haruki's combat style was a completely different beast compared to relying on instinct and reaction alone.
"Trying to run? Fine—get lost!" Haruki suddenly released his grip.
Hiro stumbled, nearly falling as he clutched his ruined right arm and staggered backward to create distance.
"Haa… haa… Damn you! You destroyed the tenketsu in my right arm's chakra pathways! Fine… fine! Very well!" Hiro's cold smile returned, his eyes burning with murderous intent.
Ignoring the pain and swelling, he gathered all his strength into his left palm, preparing the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.
Haruki watched Hiro's ragged form with unshaken pride. Slowly, he raised his left hand, sword-fingers leveled at his opponent.
"Die, brat! Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!!"
Hiro thrust his palm forward, sending a shockwave roaring toward Haruki with full force. The air blast reached Haruki's face—Hiro's mouth twisted into a cruel grin.
"Die! DIE!"
Haruki didn't move. He simply spoke:
"Gentle Fist: Thirty-Six Dead-Point Kill."
In the next instant, Haruki vanished—Hiro's shockwave hit only empty air. Haruki reappeared right in front of him.
Body Flicker Technique.
Haruki's left hand shot forward, stabbing two fingers directly into the center of Hiro's chest.
"Shanchu Point!"
Hiro's body froze, his mind clouded.
Haruki's right hand followed.
"Dove Tail!"
Then both hands struck in rapid succession.
"Great Gateway! Spirit Gateway!"
Haruki's movements became a blur.
"Sea of Qi! Origin Pass! Central Pole! Crooked Bone!"
His hands turned into phantoms, raining strikes from top to bottom.
"Eagle Window! Breast Center! Breast Root! Cycle Gate! Chapter Gate! Merchant Curve!"
Haruki's footwork was ghostly as he swept around Hiro's body, striking his limbs.
"Shoulder Well! Great Abyss! Leg Three Miles! Three Yin Intersection! Gushing Spring!"
Sliding behind Hiro with a spinning step, Haruki's fingers kept flying.
"Lung Transport! Reversed Yin! Heart Transport! Kidney Transport! Life Gate! Will Chamber! Sea of Qi Transport! Tail Gate!"
Finally, Haruki leapt high, flipping over Hiro's head, body inverted—
"Hundred Meetings! Spirit Court! Sun! Ear Gate! Bright Eyes! Philtrum! Mute Gate! Wind Pool! Man's Welcome!!"
His twin fingers struck all nine points in a blink—faster than the naked eye could track—before he flipped again and landed lightly with his back to Hiro.
The entire sequence had taken less than three seconds. One second for the frontal assault, one to circle Hiro in a ring of ghostly afterimages, and one to unleash the airborne strikes.
Hiro stood motionless, vacant-eyed—like a puppet with its strings cut.
The arena was utterly silent.
The Uchiha had all activated their Sharingan to follow Haruki's movements, but none had ever seen such a technique.
The Hyūga spectators were stunned. Gentle Fist can be used like that?! The tenketsu Haruki targeted were unfamiliar to them, his strikes producing bizarre effects they had never seen. The speed rivaled—and in some ways surpassed—the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, except Haruki's attack encircled the opponent with complex, fluid footwork.
The Hyūga clan head thought to himself: Could this branch family child be the true perfect inheritor of our bloodline? Five years old… and he's already created a new Gentle Fist technique!
The Third Hokage laughed heartily. "Hahaha! This boy is impressive! I worried for nothing. Danzō, it seems being too 'practical' has its drawbacks."
Danzō said nothing, though a muscle in his jaw twitched.
…
When Haruki deactivated his Byakugan and glanced back, Hiro was still standing there like a wooden statue—until blood spurted from his mouth, followed by blood seeping from his eyes, ears, and nose. His eyes rolled back as he collapsed, convulsing and losing control of his bladder and bowels.
The medics rushed forward—they had been warned to be ready, but they hadn't expected to be saving him.
"Hinata Hiro!" A Hyūga elder roared, pointing at Haruki. "You struck a fellow clansman with killing intent! Disqualify him immediately—he's unfit to be a shinobi!"
Haruki turned his gaze on the elder, cold enough to send a shiver down the man's spine.
"I already spared his life. I only used the force of my fingers, no chakra needles—otherwise, he'd be dead. But permanent paralysis and mental damage? That he won't escape."
The elder's outrage continued. "He is of the Hyūga! How dare you be so ruthless—"
Haruki's cold smirk cut him off. "And what of it? When he used Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms on me, did he hold back? If that had been my real body instead of a shadow clone, I'd be the one paralyzed right now. This is the Chūnin Exams—fighting with everything I have is my duty. If he's injured, it's only because his skill wasn't enough."
The elder's face burned with humiliation.
Haruki turned to the jōnin proctor. "Have I broken any rules? Or am I to be punished because my opponent was too weak to withstand my attacks?"
The jōnin shook his head. "No rules broken. A shinobi must fight to win. Hinata Haruki is the victor!"
Haruki nodded and bowed to the Third. "Hokage-sama, does this mean I've passed the Chūnin Exams?"
The Third smiled. "I announce that Hinata Haruki has passed—and is hereby promoted to Chūnin!"
Applause rose from the stands, building until nearly everyone was cheering—save for Danzō, the Uchiha, and a few others. The crowd wasn't only celebrating Haruki's win—they had witnessed the rise of the youngest Chūnin in history.
Hinata Haruki—five years old.