Thick trees stretched into the distance, their branches forming a loose web overhead. Even so, using a sensing technique, he felt that from such a distance, he had locked eyes with a pair of calm, dead-still eyes.
In the next instant, before he could react, he heard a sharp whistle of wind. It was as if rain fell through the forest in front of him.
Like a spring breeze passing silently through the woods, cutting away dead leaves like scissors, countless leaves fell and shattered his view. The scene was strangely beautiful.
What followed was intense pain.
Splat.
The arm that had thrown the kunai split open at the sleeve, the skin tearing into a circular red line. Blood sprayed out, and the arm slid off and hit the ground with a painfully clear sound.
"That guy actually caught my ninjutsu with his bare hand and threw it back!"
The black-cloaked man, who had fled by instinct, knelt on the tree branch. Even though he now understood what had happened, he still found it unbelievable.
Didn't the intelligence say that guy was trash?
How could trash catch a Wind Release ninjutsu that Lord Danzo personally taught and refined for years with his bare hand?
With such terrifying reaction speed, you tell me he is trash? If he is trash, then what am I?
"Kamaitachi, what are you doing?"
A hoarse, gloomy voice reached his ears, making him shudder violently. He raised his head slightly, saw the figure before him, then hurriedly lowered it again and said with a trembling voice, "Lord Danzo, I…"
"Hmph. Useless. It seems your mission has failed."
Before he could finish, Danzo Shimura cut him off coldly and glanced at the stump where his arm was gone. This man before him was a shinobi he had specially trained for assassination missions.
In the past, with sufficient preparation, he could kill most jonin in a single strike. But now…
"Losing your dominant hand means you are completely ruined."
Danzo Shimura narrowed his shadowed eyes and thought to himself, "Interesting. That Hyuga brat really is not as simple as he looks. Orochimaru must have left something on him."
Hmph. Since Sarutobi is unjust and took my Wood Release shinobi, don't blame me for being ruthless and targeting this brat instead.
It was already noon.
Yunchuan Hyuga walked from Konoha Hospital back to the Hyuga Clan Compound, lowering his head to glance at the palm wrapped in bandages. With the body's growing self-healing ability, the wound on his hand had already fully closed on the way to the hospital.
To avoid drawing attention, he had cut his palm again himself. Even so, the Medical-nin at the hospital still remarked that such strong recovery was rare. Of course, that was not the only reason Yunchuan Hyuga did it.
While thinking, Yunchuan Hyuga arrived outside a Training Ground and looked up, spotting a figure surrounded by several people who treated her with obvious respect. It was Hyuga Aoi, the daughter of an elder from the Hyuga Clan Main Family.
Her long black hair shimmered in the sunlight, and the healthy rose color of a sixteen-year-old girl's cheeks still held a trace of baby fat. Yet her pale eyes were sharp and cold, like blades.
"Get lost!"
She kicked the kneeling Branch Family member in front of her without mercy, while the person only let out a muffled grunt and endured the pain without daring to show even the slightest dissatisfaction. Hyuga Aoi shot him a look full of disgust.
"Trash," she said, sweeping her gaze over the other Branch Family members. "All trash. Not one of you dares to fight back, and Father actually sent useless people like you to protect me?"
The surrounding Branch Family members all lowered their heads, their posture respectful and humble, not daring to refute her in any way. That elder of the Main Family had only one daughter, and years of indulgence had shaped her into someone willful and overbearing.
If that were all, it would not be unusual, since many children of the Main Family were like this. The problem was that she loved to fight and compete, always wanting to leave the village for the battlefield, which the Branch Family saw as reckless and the Main Family saw as inviting suffering.
This time, after her request to leave the village was rejected again, she wanted these Branch Family members to use their full strength to spar with her. But how could they dare, since she had not yet reached the age to learn the Caged Bird Seal, and injuring her by mistake could still earn them torment under that seal from her father.
Compared to that pain that reached into the soul and made life worse than death, being insulted or beaten a little now meant nothing. If Hyuga Aoi wished it, they would even kneel down and bark like dogs.
"Wait," Hyuga Aoi said, frowning as if she noticed something. "Isn't someone missing?"
At her words, several Branch Family members lifted their heads slightly and exchanged brief looks, all realizing who was absent. After a short silence, the Hyuga member who had blocked Yunchuan Hyuga that morning spoke first.
"Lady Aoi," he said respectfully. "It is…"
"Lady Aoi, I am here."
Before he could finish, a familiar voice rang out, making his body stiffen as the bruised pain in his abdomen seemed to return. Hyuga Aoi turned her head with a frown and saw Yunchuan Hyuga approaching.
"So that's who's missing," she said coldly. "It's you, you useless thing."
Yunchuan Hyuga ignored her mockery and only raised his bandaged hand, lowering his head slightly. "Sorry, Lady Aoi. My hand is injured, so today I may not be able to…"
A sharp sound cut through the air. He instinctively tilted his head aside as a fist brushed past his ear, the wind of the strike lifting his tied-back black hair.
Yunchuan Hyuga calmly raised his eyes and met a pair of emotionless pale eyes. "Enough talk," Hyuga Aoi said in a flat tone. "Let me see whether you trash have improved at all."
As her words fell, she pulled her fist back and turned it into a palm, pushing toward Yunchuan Hyuga's chest. In the next moment, his figure withdrew with steps that looked almost floating, like leaves carried away by the wind.
A trace of surprise flashed in Hyuga Aoi's eyes as veins rose around them. She set her stance, the true opening posture of the Gentle Fist.
In the next instant, her right hand became a blur, three fingers together as they aimed for Yunchuan Hyuga's left shoulder. Watching this, Yunchuan Hyuga sighed inwardly.
This was troublesome. He did not want to stand out so early, but kneeling and acting like a dog was not an option either.
He had endured three years to gain a chance to change his fate, and continuing to kneel now would make those years meaningless. So, did he want to stand, or did he want to earn "money"?
"I want to stand, and earn the money too."
With that decided, Yunchuan Hyuga slowly closed his eyes. As expected, he entered that state of total focus again, shutting down sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, leaving only mental perception.
With a sudden motion, his body spun and leaned back. Hyuga Aoi's fingertips skimmed past his nose and struck the wooden post behind him, leaving a palm print more than an inch deep as splinters scattered and landed on his lashes.