Chapter 42: A Glimpse of True Power
"No way... no way?!"
"That's amazing! Even with his eyes covered, he could still react like that. That silver-haired guy is incredible!"
"I remember now—silver hair and red eyes... that boy was the top student in my daughter's class."
After the brief silence, an even more intense commotion erupted from the stands. Nothing stimulated the crowd more than a spectacular display, and Ryuzen's effortless domination of a Hyūga prodigy had given them exactly that.
But while the civilians cheered at the spectacle, the ninja present had very different reactions.
Shiranui Genma studied Ryuzen's hands—now returned to normal color, the black substance vanished. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. What exactly was that black coating? Some kind of chakra enhancement? No... I didn't sense any chakra at all.
"Such powerful perception. The blindfold makes no difference to him," the Fourth Kazekage observed from the platform. "If I'm not mistaken, that should be some form of sensory ability. A special bloodline limit, perhaps?"
"No, it's not a bloodline limit." The Third Hokage shook his head slowly. "He's a civilian-born genin. No clan, no inherited techniques."
"Remarkable!" The Kazekage continued his praise, though beneath the mask of sand, Orochimaru's true face showed a different kind of interest. He had already witnessed Ryuzen's sword technique in the preliminaries. He knew this display barely scratched the surface of the boy's true capabilities.
Hyūga Hanabi looked up at her father, her young face filled with surprise. "Father, that person..."
"Keep watching."
Hiashi Hyūga's expression remained unchanged, but his pale eyes never left Ryuzen.
"Impossible!"
Hyūga Neji slowly pushed himself up from the ground, a footprint clearly marked on his face. His expression mixed horror with disbelief as he shouted: "The gap can't possibly be this large!"
"Why is it impossible?" Ryuzen continued spinning the paper umbrella casually, his blindfolded gaze somehow still fixed on Neji. "You should consider yourself lucky. I rarely take opponents seriously, and you're one of the few I've bothered with."
Shiranui Genma, watching from the side, twitched slightly. Nothing about your attitude suggests you're taking this seriously at all.
"Hateful! Hyaaah—!"
Neji's face flushed red with humiliation. Both hands reached into his ninja pouch and emerged with a dozen shuriken, which he hurled toward Ryuzen in a spread pattern designed to overwhelm.
"What's wrong with you? As a genius of the Hyūga clan, shouldn't you be fighting me at close range? Or are you afraid?"
Ryuzen's mocking voice accompanied a casual sweep of his paper umbrella.
Shing—
Red light flashed briefly. Every shuriken fell from the air, cut cleanly in half.
The paper umbrella showed no damage whatsoever from colliding with the sharpened steel.
Shiranui Genma's eyes narrowed again. That black coating—it increases both strength and hardness. He coated the umbrella just like he coated his wrist earlier.
"Gentle Fist Technique: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
A low voice sounded near Ryuzen's ear.
While Ryuzen was occupied with the shuriken, Neji had closed the distance again. Beneath the blindfold, an invisible Eight Trigrams formation spread outward from Ryuzen's position—the zone within which Gentle Fist users could predict and control the flow of battle.
Two Palms—swish!
The sound of fingers cutting through air rang out sharply.
Slap.
Neji's strikes never reached their target.
Ryuzen was intimately familiar with the Sixty-Four Palms. He had watched Hinata practice them for years. He had felt them against his own body during countless training sessions. He knew the angles, the rhythms, the tenketsu targets by heart.
Before Neji's palms could close within ten centimeters of his acupuncture points, Ryuzen's arm raised. The back of his Haki-coated left hand struck Neji's wrist with precise force, deflecting the strike aimed at his vital points.
Four Palms! Swish—
Neji's wrist ached from the impact, but he refused to give up. His other hand continued the assault, following the predetermined pattern of the technique.
BAM! — GHHHK!
A familiar sound. A familiar result.
Neji's eyes went wide as his mouth opened involuntarily, saliva spraying from the impact. Ryuzen's knee had driven into his stomach at close range—so fast Neji couldn't even attempt Rotation to defend. His body folded, dropping to his knees on the arena floor.
Both hands clutched his stomach. Intense pain made his entire body spasm.
Ryuzen had become serious.
Even without his sword, Ryuzen was overwhelmingly powerful thanks to his two types of Haki. Among his peers, the only one who could genuinely threaten him was Rock Lee with the Fifth Gate opened. Even Gaara—whom Ryuzen didn't take seriously as a threat—had been casually handled.
When he got serious, as he just had, Neji stood no chance.
The reason he had put in this effort was simple: he wanted to teach Neji an unforgettable lesson. He hadn't used his sword because he worried he might accidentally kill the Hyūga prodigy. Despite disliking Neji's attitude, the boy was still Hinata's cousin—Hiashi's nephew, the son of the deceased Hizashi Hyūga. Ryuzen intended to marry Hinata someday. Creating unnecessary conflict with the Hyūga clan served no purpose.
Besides, Neji's nature wasn't truly bad. His hatred stemmed from Hizashi's death, from the cage bird seal, from the cruel reality of branch family existence. The boy carried a knot in his heart that he couldn't untie alone.
Still, knowing the source of Neji's pain, Ryuzen had no intention of helping him resolve it. He wasn't a child of destiny like Naruto, and words had never been his weapon.
Long moments passed before Neji finally recovered from the severe pain. He rose slowly, shakily, to his feet.
"Ahem... failure. Is this my fate?"
The arrogance had vanished from his face. Though a trace of unwillingness remained, his expression suggested acceptance—as if he had finally understood something about the world.
Ryuzen removed his blindfold and nodded. "Yes. Anyone who fights me shares that fate."
"Fate... is it truly determined from birth?" Neji laughed bitterly, the sound carrying years of suppressed pain.
"Don't misunderstand." Ryuzen's voice held no mockery now. "The reason my fate is like this is simply because I'm too strong."
Neji looked confused by the statement.
Ryuzen met his gaze evenly. "Do you want to see my true measure?"
"What?"
Without waiting for a response, Ryuzen secured the paper umbrella behind his back. His right hand settled on the hilt of his sword at his waist. His red eyes swept across Neji's face, then fixed on something far behind him—the high wall at the edge of the arena complex.
"Tense your nerves and remember to dodge. Don't die."
Shing—
A dazzling flash erupted, like lightning breaking from thunderclouds. Light split the sky.
BOOM!
Dark red sword energy—seventeen, maybe eighteen meters high—erupted from Ryuzen's blade. It surged forward like a tidal wave, flooding Neji's vision, flooding Shiranui Genma's vision, flooding the entire arena's vision.
The power of it stole breath. Froze thought. Stopped hearts.
The sword energy crashed against the distant wall—
And kept going.
Stone shattered. Dust exploded. When the dust cleared, a massive trench carved through the wall revealed the forest beyond. Trees had been simply erased from existence along the attack's path.
Neji stood frozen, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to process what he had just witnessed.
Beside him, Shiranui Genma had lost his senbon. It lay on the ground, unnoticed, fallen from lips gone slack.
In the stands, silence reigned absolute.
On the Hokage's platform, the Third Hokage's pipe had stopped halfway to his mouth.
Beside him, Orochimaru's disguised eyes had gone wide with an emotion he rarely felt: genuine surprise.
In the waiting room, the monitors showed the aftermath—the impossible destruction—and no one spoke.
Naruto's jaw hung open. Shikamaru had forgotten to look lazy. Temari's fan had slipped from suddenly numb fingers. Kankuro's painted face had gone pale beneath the makeup.
Gaara's eyes had finally changed from empty to something else entirely.
And Hinata, alone in her corner of the waiting room, pressed a hand to her heart and smiled with an emotion too complex to name.
On the arena floor, Ryuzen sheathed his sword. The sound was quiet, almost gentle, completely at odds with the devastation he had just caused.
"That," he said calmly, "is why you never had a chance."
Neji said nothing. He couldn't.
For the first time in his life, the genius of the Hyūga clan understood what true power looked like.
And it terrified him.
✨Enjoying the story? You can support me on Patreon —
Patreon.com/MizuSan
✨ Patreon members get early chapter access, bonus content! 🥰
🎉 Plus, I'll release 1 extra chapter for every 5 reviews!💎 Or grab 1 bonus chapter for every 50 Power Stones you send my way! 🥳
🌊 Let's reach 20 Patreon members to unlock 5 extra chapters together