The Hyuga clan boy charged at Yuta in close combat expected, since the Hyuga were famous for exactly that.
Yuta wasn't ducking the fight. This was the first rule of the Leaf. He went in close too.
As the two boys exchanged blow for blow, Yuta's punches were doing more damage than the Hyuga boy could handle. He couldn't dodge them only block and even that wasn't working.
"How is this boy's hits doing more damage than mine?" the Hyuga boy thought as both his hands went numb from the impact.
His own strikes were hitting nothing but air. He couldn't explain how someone ranked lower than him was moving that fast. If this boy was around his age, he would have assumed he was chunin-level at least.
The shock was written on his face and he could see it reflected in his companions' expressions too. These were people he couldn't afford to show weakness to. He would not disgrace his grandfather. Not now. Not here.
He refused to let an Uchiha make a fool of the clan head's prodigy the one said to be on par with the Hyuga clan head's twins. The thought made his jaw tighten.
He closed his eyes.
Then opened them.
"Byakugan."
He wasn't fighting fair anymore. He needed to end this fast.
He positioned his left hand forward, right hand pulled back at his side.
"Gentle Fist!"
He charged at Yuta again and this time, it was nothing like his previous attacks.
But even with the Byakugan active, every strike kept hitting empty air.
Yuta abandoned his defensive stance. As the boy's palm came driving toward his chest, Yuta caught him by the wrist, stopping the attack cold.
"Hey, bro you've been embarrassing yourself this whole time, and now I can feel you actually trying to kill me with that one." Yuta said with a smirk. "How about I show you some "
He never finished the sentence.
The Hyuga boy's other hand was already moving.
Two fingers. Straight into Yuta's chakra pathway. Precise. Lethal. Aimed directly at his heart.
Blood sprayed from Yuta's nostril then a mouthful came with it.
His healing ability kicked in immediately.
But the hit had landed clean, and Yuta was unconscious before he even hit the ground.
If not for his healing, he would have been a corpse.
---
On the other side of the yard, Mikoto and the others had gone quiet.
They had all been watching with wide eyes as Yuta held his own against a Hyuga clan members as the clan is widely considered to have the best taijutsu in the village.
"Wow, Mikoto your little brother is incredible," Kushina said.
"I can't believe what I'm seeing," Jiraiya said.
"Splendid," Orochimaru murmured. "I knew there was something special about him the moment people started comparing him to legends."
But as the fight progressed, Orochimaru had grown quiet in a different way. He had noticed that Yuta wasn't taking it seriously.
"Why did they let him use the Byakugan?" Kushina said, her voice shifting. "That's not right."
"This isn't going to end well." Orochimaru turned to the others. "Someone needs to stop this fight before it turns serious."
They were still arguing about it when Yuta took the hit straight to the chest.
Both sides fell silent.
When Yuta spat blood, the cheerfulness drained from the scene entirely.
"Mayeri and Hakure take these children home. It's getting late." Yuta's grandfather gave the order immediately, his voice calm but carrying weight. He needed them gone. This was going to be a problem, and the only thing he could hope for now was that Yuta's healing ability would come through.
He was the first and only person who knew about it. He had benefited from it himself, which was the reason he could still walk and stand as long as he did.
Mayuki and Hakure turned to their squad teams, who were already watching and waiting for orders.
"Escort these children back to their parents' homes," both brothers said. "Hand them directly to their parents. Nothing happens to them on the way. Understood?"
"Yes sir!" The Uchiha police officers answered in unison and moved without hesitation, each one falling in alongside a child.
"Will Yuta be alright?" Mikoto's voice was small, scared. Tears were already forming in her eyes.
"Don't worry," Jun said, though his voice was doing its best to sound more certain than he felt. "The boss can't lose to some snow-white-eyes people."
With a single nod from Hakure, the kids were escorted away.
---
Two minutes later, Yuta opened his eyes.
"Hahaha! Don't ever disrespect the Hyuga clan again!" Akaza was laughing, not paying attention to anything around him.
"That's what you get for talking big!"
"Someone his size should know his place."
"Hahaha I bet his mother and sister would fetch a good price for the clan. You've done well, Senior Akaza."
The Hyuga boys were celebrating. It had been a duel. Even if Yuta had died, that was his problem.
"What did you just say about my family?"
The laughter stopped.
Yuta's voice was cold nothing like the calm, easy-going boy from earlier in the fight.
"Huh? You're still alive?" Akaza walked over slowly, standing over him. "You already lost. Be a good boy, hand over your sister, and I'll let you walk away with your life." He placed his palm on Yuta's shoulder.
Yuta didn't say anything.
"Are you deaf? Talk, or your head is coming home with me."
Yuta grabbed Akaza's wrist.
And with barely any effort *crack.*
"AAHH!" Akaza screamed, staggering back. He hadn't even had time to react. He hadn't expected Yuta to have any strength left at all.
He activated his Byakugan instinctively, and what he saw stopped him cold.
The injuries that should have taken months to heal the injuries that would have put any normal shinobi flat on their back for half a year were gone. Completely. In under two minutes.
"Akaza!" His clansmen rushed over, surrounding him, assessing his broken arm.
"You have no honor as a shinobi."
"You'll pay for this, bastard!"
The threats came fast and loud.
Yuta didn't respond to any of them. He didn't even look shaken. His eyes drifted to the side toward a wooden table near the wall.
He walked to it, broke off two of its legs, and began sharpening them against each other with slow, deliberate strokes. When he was done, he dropped one into his inventory and now only one was visible in his hand.
He turned and stood in the middle of the Hyuga boys, pointing the sharpened table leg directly at them.
"All of you please come at once." His voice was quiet. Polite, almost. "And when you do, please go all out. Because I will not be holding back, and it is going to get very messy."