A rapidly spinning light-blue sphere of chakra erupted outward.
The rotating shield formed instantly around Hizashi's body.
Then—
BOOOOM!
The blazing Great Fireball crashed directly into it.
The collision produced a thunderous explosion that shook the training ground. Blinding light and scorching heat surged outward in violent waves, sending dust, gravel, and dry leaves flying in every direction. For a brief moment, the air itself seemed to ripple like water disturbed by a stone.
Ren flipped backward in mid-air and landed lightly several meters away.
His eyes remained locked on the churning flames ahead.
Strictly speaking, a C-rank ninjutsu like the Great Fireball should not be capable of seriously injuring a Chunin-level ninja like Hizashi Hyuga.
But the situation here was different.
Hizashi had not expected Ren—a mere Ninja Academy student—to suddenly unleash such a technique.
That information gap had forced him into a defensive reaction.
To avoid accidentally causing serious injury, Ren had even angled the Great Fireball slightly to the side. With the reaction speed Hizashi had shown earlier, he could have easily used the Body Flicker Technique to evade.
Instead—
He had chosen to activate Rotation.
That part had caught Ren by surprise.
Ten seconds passed.
Gradually, the blazing fire was torn apart by the spinning chakra and dissipated into drifting smoke.
The dust settled.
And through the lingering haze, Hizashi Hyuga's figure emerged once more.
Compared to earlier, he looked slightly worse for wear.
Half of one sleeve had been burned away.
A section of his shoulder was scorched, and a few strands of hair had been singed by the heat.
Still—
His posture remained upright.
And his Byakugan was still fixed squarely on Ren.
The look in his eyes had changed.
There was caution now.
And something else.
Shock.
"You…"
Before he could continue—
Ren suddenly raised both hands in surrender.
"I give up."
His tone was almost playful.
"That was the last ninjutsu I know. My chakra is nearly empty."
He shrugged lightly.
"It seems the experienced senior ninja is still stronger after all."
Hizashi stared at him silently for several seconds.
Then he asked the question that had been burning in his mind.
"…How did you evade my Byakugan just now?"
Ren answered calmly.
"Homon and I are classmates."
"I've watched him during our regular training sessions."
He paused slightly before continuing.
"Based on those observations, I guessed that the Byakugan's vision might not actually be a perfect 360 degrees. There seemed to be a tiny blind spot diagonally behind the back."
"So I tried to take advantage of it."
The explanation was half truth, half lie.
The blind spot of the Hyuga clan's Byakugan was indeed real.
But Ren hadn't discovered it through observation.
He had known it long ago—from memories of the story in his previous life.
Still, claiming he had figured it out through careful observation was theoretically plausible.
It would be extremely difficult to disprove.
Hizashi studied him for a long moment.
His pale eyes seemed to search for flaws in Ren's explanation.
Finally, he exhaled slowly.
"…Fine."
"Your ninjutsu is certainly unique."
"And your tactical thinking is flexible."
"With that level of observation and analysis, it's not surprising that you defeated Homon."
Then his expression grew more serious.
"But."
"Your taijutsu is a weakness."
"Far too crude."
He gestured toward the ground where they had just fought.
"If you face a true expert—someone who can prevent you from opening distance with your Substitution Jutsu, or someone who reads your movement patterns—you will be in serious danger."
As he spoke, Hizashi stepped forward onto a clearer section of the training ground.
"Watch carefully."
He demonstrated the stance Ren had used earlier.
"When you retreated after your first surprise attack, your center of gravity leaned too far backward."
He shifted his weight to illustrate.
"That caused a delay in your next movement."
"If I had pressed forward with a close-range assault at that moment, you would have had difficulty defending yourself."
He then corrected the posture.
"The proper way should be like this…"
What followed was an unexpected training session.
Hizashi demonstrated the fundamentals of movement—foot placement, center-of-gravity control, evasive angles, and transitions between defense and attack.
Each point was explained clearly.
Each motion was demonstrated slowly.
The advice was basic.
But it was invaluable.
The greatest truths in combat were often the simplest ones.
And this kind of experience—summarized directly from real battle—was extremely difficult for a civilian ninja like Ren to obtain.
Without a clan inheritance or family martial tradition, Ren had never received systematic taijutsu instruction.
So he watched carefully.
Every movement.
Every detail.
He engraved it all into his memory.
About twenty minutes later, Hizashi finally stopped.
Ren seized the opportunity to ask several questions of his own.
Hizashi answered them patiently.
At last, the impromptu lesson came to an end.
"That's enough for today."
Hizashi brushed dust and burn marks from his clothing.
"Remember."
"Taijutsu is the foundation of every ninja."
"No matter how refined your ninjutsu is, it still requires a strong body and agile movement to support it."
"Practice the techniques I showed you."
Ren bowed slightly.
"Thank you for the guidance."
The gains from this sparring session had far exceeded his expectations.
Without another word, Hizashi leapt lightly backward and disappeared into the trees surrounding the training ground.
Ren remained standing in place, deep in thought.
—
A short distance away, moving through the forest, Hizashi slowed his pace.
He glanced back toward the training field.
His thoughts were troubled.
Originally, he had come only to confirm what Homon had said.
After witnessing the spar firsthand—and observing with a Byakugan more experienced than Homon's—he had indeed seen something unusual.
But the more clearly he saw…
The less he understood.
The principle of the Substitution Jutsu was essentially high-speed movement combined with misdirection.
It had nothing to do with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Normally, it worked best when used by a stronger ninja against a weaker one. Between opponents of equal level, it was difficult to find opportunities to use it repeatedly.
Even when it succeeded, it was usually used only to evade a single critical attack.
But Ren…
He had used Substitution Jutsu like a continuous combo.
One after another.
Without pause.
The transitions had been so smooth it felt like there was no cooldown at all.
Almost as if—
"Substitution Jutsu" had become an actual combat concept.
And then there was the Transformation Technique.
Yes, the Byakugan had a blind spot.
But it was incredibly small—barely one degree.
Transformation Techniques were supposed to be illusions or disguises.
How could someone's chakra signature simply disappear like that?
Hizashi frowned deeply.
A strange junior.
He thought about it for a long time, but still couldn't find an answer.
In the end, he could only shake his head and move on.
—
Back at the training ground, Ren remained where he was.
He replayed every demonstration Hizashi had shown him until he felt he had memorized them completely.
Only then did he lift his head and exhale slowly.
Afterward, he shifted his attention to the system interface.
During the battle earlier, several notifications had appeared briefly.
Now he reviewed them again.
---
[Ding! High-Quality Potential Target Detected: "Gentle Fist"]
[Conditions Not Met – Target Cannot Be Selected]
[Taijutsu knowledge and combat experience detected. Basic taijutsu understanding slightly increased.]
---
Ren rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"So it works like that…"
Apparently, not every technique could trigger a normal Encounter mission.
Secret clan techniques like the Gentle Fist, which required the Byakugan, could not be directly added to the target list.
Still—
The system had detected it.
Which meant there was still a possibility of acquiring it someday.
The conditions were probably just extremely strict.
After confirming that information, Ren continued scrolling through the system's message logs.
And in his mind—
A new goal quietly formed.
Gentle Fist.
Even if he couldn't obtain the Byakugan…
Understanding that technique more deeply might still become an important piece of his future strength.
--------------------------------
Extra chapters available on patreon 🔥🔥🔥
patreon.com/Samurai492
__________________________________