The Hyuga clan's Eight Trigrams Soft Fist was a secret martial art built on extreme speed and pinpoint precision.Each palm strike corresponded to an acupuncture point in the human body—thirty-two major points in total.
Thus, the first step in mastering the Soft Fist was to learn the Thirty-Two Palms of the Eight Trigrams. From there came the Sixty-Four Palms, and even the One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Palms.
Uchiha Kage had easily advanced the Soft Fist style he'd learned from Hinata to the level of Sixty-Four Palms.
"It's useless. Without the Byakugan's insight, the chakra released by the Soft Fist can't accurately strike an opponent's meridians, let alone seal their acupoints," Itachi Uchiha assessed while parrying Kurenai Yuhi's blows.
A single error in timing or accuracy could ruin the technique entirely—it was nothing more than a flashy show if misapplied.
"Hinata, is that true?" Kurenai Yuhi asked, still unsure why Uchiha Itachi hadn't used genjutsu or ninjutsu against her, but too busy to dwell on it. Like her two students, she was also watching the battle on Uchiha Kage's side.
"Um…" Hinata nodded, agreeing with Itachi's statement.
But with her Byakugan, she could clearly see every one of Uchiha Kage's Soft Fist strikes landing on Hoshigaki Kisame's acupuncture points.
Was Kage simply lucky… or were his eyes…?
No, impossible—his eyes were clearly black, not white like a Hyuga's.
"It had no effect?"
Uchiha Kage's unexpected Eight Trigrams assault had nearly caught Kisame off guard. Though the relentless flurry forced him to retreat step by step, it hadn't truly harmed him.
"What a vicious Soft Fist! Even the Hyuga clan shinobi I fought during the war weren't as skilled as you," Kisame admitted, astonished that an Uchiha could wield a style normally impossible without the Byakugan—and with such precision.
If he hadn't mastered a level of chakra absorption that allowed him to redirect the chakra Kage injected into his meridians, he would have been sealed already.
"Maybe if you'd hit harder, I'd be sealed for real," Kisame taunted, regaining his stance.
The stronger his opponent's chakra, the stronger he himself became.
"Is that so?" Uchiha Kage replied coolly, unfazed by the lack of damage.
"My real target wasn't you, anyway…"
The earlier flurry hadn't just interrupted Kisame's hand seals—it had also distracted him from his Samehada, still stuck in the ground nearby. Now, Kage stood closest to the weapon.
"What? You plan to use my blade against me?" Kisame grinned, unfazed as Uchiha Kage picked up the massive sword.
Unlike normal ninja weapons, Samehada was alive and thinking. If an unrecognized wielder tried to use it, it would turn against them. Kisame had no fear of anyone else taking it.
"Of course. Samehada is impressive—but it's mine now."
Kage swung the great sword experimentally, smiling as though he already understood Kisame's thoughts. Unfortunately for Kisame, Kage had just absorbed part of his chakra earlier, enough to mimic his energy signature—enough to deceive Samehada.
"Samehada—Flying Chain Slash!"
Flexing and extending the sword's handle like a chain, Uchiha Kage swung it in a zigzag arc toward Kisame.
"What!?" Kisame's tiny eyes widened in shock. Samehada wasn't resisting—worse, it was cooperating.
But just before striking, the sword halted mid-air.
Zzt…
One side's chakra was its master. The other side's chakra felt like its master too. Samehada's simple mind was caught in total confusion.
"Come back," Kage commanded, withdrawing the blade.
So that was it—Samehada recognized his chakra but still remembered Kisame's, preventing it from actively attacking him.
"This is bad…" Kisame's earlier composure vanished. He finally understood how Itachi must have felt when his normally unstoppable genjutsu had failed against Uchiha Kage.
Half of Kisame's fighting strength came from Samehada. If he didn't reclaim it quickly, there might come a day when he'd actually be cut down by his own weapon.
"Water Release—Great Exploding Water Wave—"
"Wait, Kisame!" Itachi cut in sharply before Kisame could finish the seals.
"You can't merge with Samehada right now. Even if you turn this place into an ocean, it won't help. Let me handle him."
Itachi had seen the look on Kage's face—completely different from when he'd stopped Kisame's jutsu earlier. Now, it was as if Kage wanted him to create a water-rich battlefield. It was clearly a trap.
"Tch. Sharp observation. No wonder you're the genius who wiped out his clan before twenty," Kage thought with a wry smirk.
With Kisame's abilities now in his arsenal, he too could merge with Samehada. If Kisame flooded the area, Kage would show everyone what a true tailless tailed beast looked like.
"Itachi-san, you're going to use that? Your body…" Kisame asked, surprised at Itachi's resolve.
"At this point, we have to end this quickly," Itachi replied flatly.
Though he'd destroyed the Uchiha clan, it had been for Konoha's sake, and he wouldn't falter now.
"Even if it harms me, you'll see the real power of the Mangekyō Sharingan."
Blood-red tears ran from his eyes as a cold, oppressive chakra built in his gaze.
Amaterasu!
"Another ocular technique?" Kurenai Yuhi felt a sudden dread and turned toward Uchiha Kage.
"What the—!?"
Out of nowhere, strange black flames erupted over Kage's body.
"Ah—ah…" Kage screamed, seemingly consumed by the flames—then, unexpectedly, he laughed.
"Sorry, sorry. You're bleeding—so I'd feel bad if I didn't take at least some damage."
Shrugging off his scorched clothing, his bare torso showed no trace of burns.
"This reckless brat is going to give me gray hairs…" Kurenai muttered under her breath, though her eyes lingered involuntarily on his exposed chest.
"How…!?" Itachi was shaken. Amaterasu's flames had clearly struck his target—how could they burn only clothing and leave the body unscathed?
"I told you—your precious Sharingan doesn't work on me."
"No. You used some special ninjutsu to avoid it," Itachi said, voice steady but mind reeling.
An Uchiha with no Sharingan at all, immune to all of his Mangekyō's techniques?
Cough… cough…
Whether from illness or suppressed rage, blood spilled from Itachi's lips.