Yawning as he walked, Hyūga Akira finally received the notice to return to the village.
As for how the approval process went—he had no idea.
All he knew was that it came through much faster than expected.
That, at least, was good news.
At the Rain Country frontline, Danzō had shown no intention of letting him participate in combat. Instead, Akira was assigned to the return convoy.
"Hey, Hyūga," the Inuzuka shinobi walking beside him teased, "why do you look half-asleep all the time lately?"
"I'm relaxing," Akira replied flatly, rolling his eyes.
After the recent madness in the Hunter world—farming experience nonstop—it wasn't his body that was exhausted. Physical fatigue vanished quickly.
It was the mental exhaustion that lingered.
That was why he looked perpetually tired.
And honestly, the Rain Country frontline wasn't exactly restful either. Every few days something blew up.
Sometimes it was Rain ninja charging in with explosive tags.
Sometimes Sand or Stone tried a sneak attack.
What puzzled Akira the most was Cloud Village.
Where the hell did these guys even come from?
If he hadn't been explicitly forbidden from taking action, he would've gone farming experience already.
"Still," the Inuzuka ninja said, glancing back at the group behind them, "we're finally off the battlefield."
Behind them was a long line of wounded shinobi—some missing limbs, others blinded—ninjas who had permanently lost their ability to fight.
Akira and the other uninjured shinobi had two main tasks:
Escort these wounded back to Konoha.Keep an eye on Hyūga Akira.
This was standard procedure for shinobi returning from undercover or intelligence missions.
No one actually believed Akira would defect to a small village—what could they possibly offer him?
If betrayal happened, it would be toward another great village.
Still, protocol was protocol.
"But seriously," the Inuzuka ninja continued, lowering his voice, "why are you so distant from the other Hyūga?"
Akira glanced toward the Hyūga shinobi ahead, who were scanning their surroundings for threats. During breaks, they gathered together—everyone except him.
"Not close with them?" Akira snorted. "What do you think?"
"You're not unfamiliar with each other, right?" the Inuzuka ninja asked awkwardly.
Akira shot him a look.
The Hyūga clan didn't have many active shinobi—two or three dozen at most. Everyone knew everyone.
Of course they were familiar.
But given his relationship with the main family, none of them dared get too close to him anymore.
And honestly, this was with Hyūga Hiashi not present. Otherwise, things would be even messier.
"I was just curious," the Inuzuka ninja laughed dryly. Akira's strained relationship with the Hyūga clan was common knowledge on the Rain battlefield—but no one knew the exact reason.
The Hyūga were famous for unity. Akira was the clear outlier.
"Mind your curiosity," Akira said, brushing past him and walking ahead.
"Hey, Hyūga Akira, don't stray too far!" the Inuzuka ninja hurried after him.
Watching Akira was part of his assignment, after all—even if it wasn't particularly important.
Akira ignored him and let his focus sink into the system interface.
In a convoy like this, his safety was basically guaranteed.
Attacking a group transporting wounded shinobi offered no benefit to enemy villages—and doing so would likely provoke Konoha's full wrath.
Konoha was, without question, the strongest village right now.
Five battlefronts.
All held.
Even without guards, no one would attack this convoy…
…probably.
Unless someone had truly lost their mind.
Akira reviewed his status.
Name: I'm Xiao Ming
Class: Hunter
Level: Lv34 (0 / 21,500)
Chakra / Nen: 3680 / 2010 +50 +20 +1000 +500
Experience Pool: 100,474
He still had over 100,000 experience, but he wasn't rushing to level up.
He'd grown too fast.
The clearest sign was his chakra—once smooth and obedient, now carrying a faint, violent edge. It no longer responded as perfectly as before.
So instead of leveling, he decided to invest everything into skills.
He scanned his skill list.
Skills (expandable for max-level):
- Gentle Fist (Lv7)
- Byakugan (Lv5)
- Fire Release: Ignition (Lv4)
- Eight Trigrams Air Palm (Lv4)
- Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon (Lv3)
- Medical Ninjutsu (Lv3)
- Niko Style: Flame Heaven (Lv1)
- Rotation (Lv1)
- Nen Ability (Lv1)
- Fire Release: Great Flame (Lv1)
- Shadow Clone (Lv1)
- Indoor Fish (Lv3)
- Exorcism (No Level)
- Whip Strike (Lv1)
- Demon Back (Lv1)
- Bandit's Secret (Lv1)
"Gentle Fist can go straight to max."
Relying on Brain Caffeine to push it further meant waiting for the right moment. This was cleaner.
Gentle Fist (Lv8) — EXP (0 / 12,800)
Gentle Fist (Lv9) — EXP (0 / 25,600)
Gentle Fist (Lv10) — MAX
Trait Selection Pending
Three traits appeared.
[Eight Trigrams]
All within the Eight Trigrams fall under your calculation.
[Formula]
Within the Eight Trigrams formation, you may wield the power of Heaven and Earth.
[Grandmaster]
The ultimate master of Gentle Fist, unmatched by any.
"…Why does this feel so literary all of a sudden?"
Akira stared at the options.
"The first two together almost feel like you're handing me Fūton: Kimon Tonkō."
No—that was stronger. This was more like a Qi Gate formation.
So what was the logic here? Just because they all involved trigrams?
He immediately ruled out the third option.
Who still insists on pure close combat when ninjutsu exists?
Between the first two, he hesitated.
Eight Trigrams meant no more fear of enemy traps—everything within the formation would be under his control.
But outside it, the effect vanished completely.Formula sounded powerful, but "Heaven and Earth's power" was vague. Natural energy? Chakra? Something else?
And with his current ninjutsu lineup…
…honestly, it was pretty barebones. Mostly high-cost Fire Release.
The second option felt like a gamble.
The first was safe.
"I'll take Eight Trigrams."
The moment he confirmed, an enormous amount of Gentle Fist and trigram-related insight flooded his mind.
Gentle Fist advanced to an entirely new realm.
Not only that—within the Eight Trigrams field, he could now calculate every movement.
Akira closed his eyes.
He hadn't activated Byakugan.
And yet, everything around him was clear.
The Inuzuka ninja sneezing.
A wounded shinobi clutching his injury in pain.
Someone ahead silently despairing over their future.
And more.
The Inuzuka ninja turned his head.
Akira opened his eyes.
As expected—the man was looking back.
"So Gentle Fist consumes chakra now…" Akira muttered. "Good thing the cost isn't insane."
Max-level skills always worried him. Some of them came with terrifying chakra consumption.
"This feels like a simplified version of Brain Caffeine."
Same clarity—none of the brutal side effects.
The only limitation was range.
The Gentle Fist domain extended about ten meters, maybe twenty at most.
Still—
On the road back to Konoha,
Hyūga Akira had quietly perfected his clan's ultimate art.
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