Fugaku Uchiha's gaze grew more restrained as he spoke softly. "Is that so? Then let me stand in for your father and test what you are really made of."
As the words fell, he shifted his footing and swung his arm, five fingers together and Chakra gathered tight. His palm shot toward Neji Hyuga's chest with a sharp whistle.
"You trash like this," Fugaku Uchiha said coldly, "does not deserve to even mention him, let alone in front of Root."
Neji Hyuga's eyes hardened as he raised the opening stance of Gentle Fist. He deflected and guided the force to the side, narrowly drawing most of the power away from the strike.
The palm wind brushed past his clothes, the pressure stinging his skin, but his knee rose like a hammer and slammed toward Fugaku Uchiha's abdomen. Fugaku Uchiha seemed ready for it, striking down on the side of the knee to dissolve the blow and using the force to spin, his arm sweeping toward Neji Hyuga's head.
The air rushed forward, and Neji Hyuga crossed his arms to block. A dull crash echoed through the Secret Chamber, numbing his arms and forcing him back several steps.
Before he could steady himself, Fugaku Uchiha was already in front of him again, another merciless palm thrust forward. Neji Hyuga's expression changed as he hurried to meet it, and heavy impacts rang out again and again.
Inside the Secret Chamber, the two exchanged speed for speed as their figures crossed and separated. The sounds of fists and palms striking were constant, sharp and unbroken.
Fists, palms, fingers, and elbows aimed straight for vital points and chakra nodes. Every movement showed the precision and cruelty of Gentle Fist in full.
Chakra burst and collided with each exchange, visible waves of force rolling outward. Dust lifted from the ground, lamps shook, and the light flickered as if it might go out at any moment.
Neji Hyuga's Pure Byakugan gave him sharper perception and faster reactions than Fugaku Uchiha. That advantage, however, was offset by Fugaku Uchiha's deep combat experience.
With a heavy thud, both struck each other's shoulders at the same time. In the same instant, they raised their other hands and locked tightly onto each other's wrists.
Power surged through their arms as they pushed back and forth, neither yielding. Their legs tensed like iron, feet rooted firmly to the ground as if they had turned to stone.
Both hands trembled under the strain, veins standing out along their arms and temples. They stared straight into each other's eyes without blinking.
"Is this all you have?" Fugaku Uchiha said coldly. "With this, you think you can kill me?"
"What makes you think you can cross the gap between the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family and the Branch Family Members with a Secret Technique like this?" He continued without pause, his voice hard. "I should have listened back then and let you fend for yourself instead of feeling guilty."
"But it does not matter anymore," he finished. "Once I kill you and leave here, no matter who your companions are, they will all die because of you."
Those words drove Neji Hyuga's fury even deeper. A savage look surfaced on his face as he suddenly pulled forward instead of breaking away, yanking Fugaku Uchiha's wrist and dragging him close.
At the same time, he threw his head back and then slammed it forward. The impact exploded with a sickening sound.
Their foreheads collided solidly, bone against bone, the noise sharp and unsettling. Blood seeped through the bandages on Fugaku Uchiha's forehead, his vision going dark as his body swayed.
In the instant his mind blurred and his sight had not yet recovered, a furious palm tore through the air toward him. Acting purely on instinct, Fugaku Uchiha twisted his head aside.
The strike smashed into the stone wall behind him with a terrifying crack. Flesh split open, blood soaking into the seams of the wall and running down.
Worse still, the wall itself fractured under the force, bursting apart as chunks of stone and lime blasted outward in a cloud of dust. Sharp fragments of gravel scraped across Fugaku Uchiha's cheek, leaving several bloody cuts.
After missing the hit, Neji Hyuga tried to pull his embedded hand free to continue the assault. Fugaku Uchiha endured the dizziness and pain, seizing that brief opening as the Chakra in his body compressed and then erupted.
Gentle Fist·Ichigeshin was released in an instant. An invisible but overwhelming force burst outward from him and slammed straight into Neji Hyuga at point-blank range.
With a heavy crash, Neji Hyuga was thrown backward and smashed into the opposite wall before stopping. Fugaku Uchiha forced down the nausea, his breathing quickened as he wiped the blood from his cheek and looked at Neji Hyuga in the distance.
Neji Hyuga's own forehead was split open as well, blood pouring down and staining half his face. His eyes, once clear, were now washed in a frightening red.
He shook the hand that had struck the wall, blood and stone chips dripping from it, and stared fixedly at Fugaku Uchiha. That terrifying force had only broken his skin.
Fugaku Uchiha noticed that beneath the blood and wounds on Neji Hyuga's hand, there was still a layer of iron-colored stone clinging to it. His eyes narrowed as he spoke.
"You have mastered the nature and form transformation of Earth Release Chakra?" he asked. "Do you think this can make up the difference between the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family and the Branch Family Members, between you and me?"
"Yes," Neji Hyuga replied calmly. "The weight of Gentle Fist lies in its basics, footwork, stance, and technique, practiced the same way for decades. That is what you of the Otsutsuki Clan Main Family always preach."
"But the reason you can call that persistence 'noble' is because you have a way back," he continued. "Those born above the clouds with endless retreat can afford to be calm and call themselves noble."
"For those of us living under the Caged Bird curse mark with no retreat at all, decades are far too long." As he spoke, he shifted into a completely different Gentle Fist stance, his presence turning violent and dangerous. "So we only fight for the moment in front of us."
Hearing this, Fugaku Uchiha slowly exhaled and shook his head. "As expected, I should never have held any expectations for you."
He raised his hand as his fingertips flowed with Chakra, preparing to form seals and activate the Caged Bird curse mark that controlled Neji Hyuga's life and death. "You will die here."
With a loud crash, Neji Hyuga bared a savage grin and stamped down on the ground, shattering it into spiderweb-like cracks. He shot forward like an arrow, every bit of transformed Earth Release Chakra in his body pouring out without restraint.
Earth Release and Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists were released together. Heavy Chakra wrapped around Neji Hyuga's fists, forming two blurred and ferocious lion shapes. A sharp howl tore the air as the strike crashed forward with the force of a falling meteor, aimed straight at Fugaku Uchiha.
This attack left Neji Hyuga with no retreat at all. He was gambling with his life, believing that if Fugaku Uchiha insisted on using Caged Bird Seal, then even as he died to the Caged Bird Seal, this blow would also kill Fugaku Uchiha. It was a true fight to mutual death.